Will Smith Donates $100k to Pay for NOLA Firework Show on 4th of July

New Orleans will have fireworks once again this year -- this after almost having to scrap the show because of a lack of dough ... and it's all thanks to Will Smith, who threw down big time.

The actor -- who's filming his latest movie, "Emancipation," down in NOLA right now -- caught wind of the city planning on skipping this year's big firework show due to a lack of funding ... and, of course, they had to refrain from last year's show as well -- due to COVID.

He wasn't about to let that happen though, it seems ... the dude ponied up a whopping a $100,000 -- with the help of his company, Westbrook -- to help pay for the fireworks and for the festivities to carry on as originally planned -- which will come to fruition later tonight.

So, basically ... he's the local hero for this 4th of July, and the gesture didn't go unnoticed. He got tons of thanks from city officials, as well as locals who are more than happy to have their firework display back. The big boom will go down over the Mississippi River at 9 PM ET.

BTW, this movie that Will's working on right now sounds like classic Oscar bait. It tells the story of a slave named Peter on a Louisiana plantation, who escapes and ends up fighting for the Union in the Civil War. It's based on a true story too -- you've probably seen the photo.

"Peter" is also known as Gordon ... and he's the slave who posed for that iconic photo, showing off the whipping scars on his back -- which shed a light on the brutality of slavery.