For Ryan Coogler’s “Black Panther,” domination of the domestic box office is virtually assured. Trackers are now saying a $200 million opening over the four-day Presidents Day weekend is within the realm of possibility, and the Marvel movie could not only break the February opening record set by “Deadpool” two years ago, it could pass the mammoth $174 million opening made by “Beauty and the Beast” last year to become the biggest pre-summer opening of all time.
But overseas, the film’s prospects are far from certain. While “Black Panther” has major cultural importance for the black community in the U.S., it doesn’t have that social weight in the rest of the world. That led some to wonder whether the film will underperform internationally compared to the likes of “Thor: Ragnarok” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
One example of the difference between domestic and overseas performance for black-led films would be Coogler’s last movie, “Creed.” The film was the seventh installment in the acclaimed “Rocky” series, but also takes much of its beats from Philadelphia’s African-American community.
That’s a reason why “Creed” outperformed the 2006 film “Rocky Balboa” domestically with $109.7 million, but overseas it only made $63.8 million. Best Picture nominee “Get Out,” with its social commentary on prejudice against African-Americans even in supposedly tolerant liberal communities, made 69 percent of its box office haul domestically — $176 million compared to $69 million overseas.
“Certain African-American films have a cultural resonance that American audiences really respond to, but not so much in other countries,” said comScore’s Paul Dergarabedian. “But I don’t think ‘Black Panther’ is going to have this problem, because it has so many great action sequences and universal themes that it really feels like a movie that can entertain anyone no matter where they’re from.”
Indeed, the biggest advantage for “Black Panther” is its status as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of Hollywood’s most globally successful properties today. So in many territories, Disney is downplaying the Black Panther as Marvel’s first non-white superhero and emphasizing how the character is the latest in its line of larger-than-life Avengers.
In the U.S., posters and billboards for “Black Panther” are heavily promoting the film’s stacked African-American cast, including character posters featuring black actresses like Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, and Angela Bassett.
But the posters for some overseas markets, which you can see above, feature the Black Panther himself, with mask on and vibranium claws unsheathed. One of the posters currently being used in Taiwan is almost identical to an American one, but with Chadwick Boseman’s face hidden behind his mask.
Reps for Disney did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this story.
So far, Disney’s approach to foreign filmgoers seems to be paying off. While the Hollywood giant has released other Marvel films in some markets a week before America, the earliest release date for “Black Panther” was this past Tuesday. So far, the film has grossed $23.2 million. While it’s still too early for true comparisons, it is ahead of the pace set in many markets by films like “Ant-Man,” “Doctor Strange,” and “Guardians of the Galaxy.”
The most notable performance for the film is in South Korea, where it had the highest February opening day in that country’s history and the seventh-highest of all time with $4.7 million.
Korea has been an interesting market for “Black Panther” because one of its most exciting action scenes is a James Bond-esque car chase through the streets of Seoul. That chase has been used heavily in trailers and TV spots for the film in global markets, and Korean cinemas have also received a boost from foreign moviegoers who are currently in the country attending the Winter Olympics.
Tracking for “Black Panther” has the film making an overseas start of $80-120 million, with launches in Russia, China and Japan still to come. If this weekend’s total hits the upper part of that range, it would put the film well on its way to matching the $445 million overseas haul made by “Doctor Strange” in fall 2016. If that happens, it may serve as a testament to the ability of black filmmaking — or at least the Marvel brand — overcoming cultural barriers.
Letitia Wright Is 'Black Panther's' Breakout Star - Here's Where You've Seen Her Before (Photos)
"Black Panther" is zooming toward an inevitably, huge opening this weekend, and one of the brightest stars contributing to that success is breakout star Letitia Wright. Wright plays Shuri, the technological wizard who develops Wakanda's incredible high-tech gadgets who also happens to be sister of the title character. So before you see the movie, get to know Wright before everyone starts talking about her.
Marvel
Wright, 24, was born in Guyana, but moved to London when she was 7. She was inspired to act after seeing the 2006 film "Akeelah and the Bee," which she saw as a rare, positive representation of black people on screen. "If it's a character with flaws, great, but not just negative stigma all the time. We need to change things here," she told The Guardian in 2015.
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Wright's acting career first took off on British TV starting with roles on the long-running medical drama "Holby City" and the crime drama "Top Boy" in 2011. Other TV roles since then include episodes of "Doctor Who," "Humans," and the LGBT-focused dramas "Cucumber" and "Banana."
E4
Wright's first major film role was in Michael Caton-Jones's film "Urban Hymn" from 2015, as a teenager with a beautiful singing voice who pursues music as a way of escaping her troubled home life. At the time, Caton-Jones told The Guardian "I've not felt like this about someone since Leonardo" (DiCaprio, who Caton-Jones directed in 1993's "This Boy's Life").
"I've had plenty of really good actors, but I just go on my instinct," Caton-Jones said. "My instinct is she can be as big as she wants. Letitia is just gobsmackingly brilliant. The camera loves her. She has an emotional honesty."
Level 33 Entertainment
In between film roles, Wright starred in the West End production of "Eclipsed," a play written by her eventual "Black Panther" co-star Danai Gurira. Wright plays one of several Liberian women, stripped of their names and identities, living within the compound of a military leader fighting a rebellion against the Liberian president. Notably, in the Broadway production of "Eclipsed" Wright's role was played by another future "Black Panther" co-star, Lupita Nyong'o.
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Wright is also openly religious, sharing her faith on social media and in interviews. She recently took a seven month hiatus from acting and even stepped away from a movie role opposite Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning, to focus on her faith. I remember God was like, to me, Give up the job," she told Vanity Fair in 2017. "I can give you more than that; I just need you right now. Give up the job."
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When she resumed acting, Wright landed a part on the sci-fi series "Humans," playing a human teen who belongs to a subgroup of people who like to emulate and pretend to be synths (the show's term for androids).
Channel 4/AMC
Wright was also the star of "Black Museum," the mindbending fourth season finale of "Black Mirror." The fan-favorite episode, loaded with callbacks to previous episodes in the series, sees Wright as a revenge-driven young woman who finally confronts the man who killed and tortured her father.
Netflix
Wright has a deep connection with her "Black Panther" cast. She told Variety that it felt "ordained" that she would one day play Chadwick Boseman's sister in a film. "I really, really feel like this is just a God thing," Wright said. "Even before I met him, I knew that he was going to play my brother. I just knew that we would connect because of the type of actor he is as well. He's a person of the spirit, a like soul. Very grounded, down-to-earth, humble."
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Wright told Vanity Fair that she, Gurira and Nyong'o would get into rap battles on set, and she would always win. She also has some ideas about the future of her Marvel character Shuri (she'll appear in "Avengers: Infinity War"). She imagined a scenario in which she teases Peter Parker and Tony Stark for their outdated tech and even plots to improve the Iron Man suit behind Tony's back.
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Wright's next role will be as Reb in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of "Ready Player One." "He's a master at what he does, and he's a normal person. He just wants to get a good film going." Wright said in an interview.
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Wright stars as the tech-savvy princess Shuri in ”Black Panther“ and will next be seen in Steven Spielberg’s ”Ready Player One“
"Black Panther" is zooming toward an inevitably, huge opening this weekend, and one of the brightest stars contributing to that success is breakout star Letitia Wright. Wright plays Shuri, the technological wizard who develops Wakanda's incredible high-tech gadgets who also happens to be sister of the title character. So before you see the movie, get to know Wright before everyone starts talking about her.