Fears that the African led movie ‘Black Panther‘ would fail in Asia have been crushed under the weight of box office glory this week.
In the mood for good news.
Meet us after the bounce…
With Asia’s well-documented history of anti-blackness in mind, Hollywood often steers clear of enlisting black actors to star in movies it intends to launch in the market.
Today, Ryan Coogler’s ‘Panther’ has given the industry hope that times are a-changing. Why? The $25 million the action picture has earned in South Korea.
This figure pushes the movie’s opening number to a brilliant $361 million on a global front as its popularity continues to swell in markets its producers feared it would crumble in.
Dave Hollis, Disney’s President of Theatrical Distribution shared…
Our goal is to make movies that reflect the diversity of our world because those are the stories that resonate everywhere. To have the ability to show other people’s experience is part of the beauty of movies, but it also allows for rich storytelling, and for the people whose experiences are up on the screen, especially if they have not been showcased a ton. The meaningful nature of being able to see yourself represented, those things really matter to everyone, but in this case it matters even more to communities of color. Representation matters and the times we’ve leaned into it, we’ve had massive results.
Why its reign in Korea is significant? A large portion of the project was shot there.