Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

OPINION:

A black superhero sees green lights

After only 24 days, the actors, directors and producers of the movie “Black Panther” can officially utter the B-phrase.

As in “billion-dollar buzz.”

It seems fitting that China vaulted “Black Panther” over the $1 billion global milestone at the box office. China boasts the second-largest movie market in the world, according to Forbes magazine, as “Black Panther” showed the monetary power of diversity.

And the film devoured blockbuster stereotypes on several fronts:

n It is the first blockbuster to feature a black superhero in a leading role.

n International sales surpassed $500 million.

Thus, two myths were shattered simultaneously, that black actors playing costumed crusaders can’t sell in the United States and that black actors period can’t sell abroad.

Now, let’s go to the movies. Bring the buttered popcorn as we study the stats.

Key statistic No. 1: 40 percent.

Professor Darnell Hunt, appearing on host Fareed Zakaria’s “Global Public Square” show on CNN, imparted some knowledge about movie monetization and people of color in the United States.

“The hand-writing’s on the wall,” said Hunt, director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African-American Studies at UCLA. “People of color are already 40 percent of the population. Their (movie-going) share is increasing about a half a percent per year. And last year, they bought more than half the tickets for half of the top 10 films.”

With $561 million in 24 days, “Black Panther” garnered the third-biggest domestic 24-day total behind only “The Last Jedi” ($572 million) and “The Force Awakens” ($812 million), according to Forbes, and it is only the 33rd movie in history to garner $1 billion in global gross revenue. A stratospheric financial return for a movie that cost $200 million.

Hunt is the lead author of a new study focusing on diversity in Hollywood. Panelist Lynda Obst is a movie producer whose work includes “Sleepless in Seattle” and “Contact.” She’s also the author of the inside-the-industry book “Sleepless in Hollywood.”

Said Obst: “Additionally, let’s discuss ‘Get Out’ first because ‘Black Panther’ is such a gigantic deal. ‘Get Out’ is probably the industry’s favorite movie this year. First of all, it reinvented a genre. It is a horror satire that gave the point of view of African-Americans in the suburbs.”

Key statistic No. 2: Copycat numbers.

There is a belief in pro football that the other 31 NFL teams will copy the winner of the Super Bowl in terms of playing style and business model during the following season.

Obst says the movie industry is no different.

“There are probably 10 more ‘Get Outs’ being created right now, in one way or another,” she said. “It took an actor that nobody knew and turned him into a movie star and showed that you could make a movie for a price; you could open it, and it could become a domestic hit, with a director you didn’t know and a star you didn’t know, and it didn’t matter.”

Built on only a $5 million budget, “Get Out” grossed $255 million worldwide.

Key statistic No. 3: Stereotyping can result in a billion-dollar loss.

What if Disney had adopted the old stereotypes that black folks don’t make good superheroes?

Then, “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman and director Ryan Coogler wouldn’t have attained blockbuster status. And Disney would have lost out on another billion dollars.

With that, for all today’s talk that black-oriented movies and actors cannot consistently sell across a broad spectrum internationally, well ... NFL-star-turned-action-movie-actor Fred Williamson debunked that two decades ago.

During the 1998 National Association of Black Journalists Convention, Williamson articulated his popularity in western Europe. Speaking on a panel discussion focusing on black movie stars from the 1970s, such as Williamson and fellow panel member Richard Roundtree ( “Shaft”), Williamson said, “When they say we (black actors) can’t make it in foreign countries, don’t believe it.”

Said Obst: “It’s the idea that is the star, so that Chris Pratt was a television star (‘Parks and Recreation’) and now he’s a movie star (‘Jurassic World’) who can green-light a movie. And now you can imagine not only is the ‘Black Panther’ going to get more spin-offs, but each of these characters are going to get more spin-offs.

“And we can imagine a world in which Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright and Octavia Spencer are going to have an all-girls movie. We can imagine a world in which all of these combinations of actors who we’d never heard of are now going to be green-lighting movies.”

Finally, those red-light signs that leading black actors have confronted in the past may turn green more often at future intersections of doubt.

Gregory Clay is a Washington columnist and a former editor for McClatchy-Tribune News Service. He wrote this for InsideSources.com.