A new trailer for Will Smith's latest movie has fans laughing - for all the wrong reasons.

The trailer for Concussion was released this morning and shows Smith playing a Nigerian doctor - complete with a wobbly accent.

Concussion

is based on the true story of Pittsburgh-based forensic pathologist Dr Bennet Omalu (played by Smith), who discovered a neuro-degenerative disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) after conducting an autopsy on a former NFL player.

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Despite the film's serious subject matter - the danger of concussion in contact sport - Smith's attempt at Omalu's Nigerian accent has been largely ridiculed on social media.

One user wrote that Smith's accent was going to cause "several Twitter civil wars".

The film has caused controversy for the NFL - Buzzfeed discovered a strategy for dealing with its release in the Sony email hack - and is being lauded as a potential Oscar contender.

But will audiences be able to get past Smith's terrible accent? The verdict on Twitter appears to be a resounding 'no'.

Concussion is due for release in December.

- nzherald.co.nz