Black Panther film already deemed a blockbuster

ALBANY — According to The Hollywood Reporter, “Black Panther,” the new Marvel movie slated to open this weekend in Albany, is on track to make $165 million in its opening weekend. If this figure is reached it will give the Marvel movie the biggest February opening in movie history.

Only four Marvel movies — “The Avengers,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Captain America: Civil War” and “Iron Man 3” — have had comparable opening weekends, according to industry sources.

“Black Panther” officially opened in U.S. theaters on Monday. The movie, which features, Chadwick Boseman alongside Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan and Daniel Kaluuya, has sold more pre-release tickets than any Marvel movie ever.

Closer to home, the Albany Business League will host an exclusive family-friendly “Black Panther” Screening Party on Thursday at AMC 16 in Albany. The event combines costumes, African-American culture and a special pre-screening of the highly anticipated movie.

Doors to the screening party will open at 6 p.m. During that time, guests will have the opportunity to network, meet VIP celebrity guests, walk the “blue” carpet, take photos in front of the “Black Panther” backdrop and more. Tickets are $25 and include the movie ticket, popcorn and drink vouchers, and a souvenir photo.

And, just for this event, the “Wakanda Bar” will be open for guests to purchase signature “Black Panther”-themed cocktails and mocktails and other non-alcoholic drinks. Moviegoers are encouraged to dress in “Black Panther” cosplay or African cultural attire. The movie will begin at 7 p.m.

The screening party is part of a two-weeklong Black History Month celebration hosted by the Albany Business League. Sherrell Byrd, the executive director of the Albany Business League, said the new Marvel movie is a long-awaited film steeped in African history and depicting a futuristic world with a stellar message of empowerment.

“In addition to the fun and fanfare of this already record-breaking movie in the Marvel franchise, ‘Black Panther’ fans will have the opportunity to meet a featured actor from the movie, VIP celebrity guest Adedapo Victor Olaniyan, a native Nigerian actor who grew up in Leesburg,” Byrd said.

Olaniyan is a graduate of Lee County High School. While studying biology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, he landed a role as an extra in the “Black Panther” movie.

Olaniyan stopped by The Albany Herald Tuesday to talk about his role in the movie and the overall impact this particular film is expected to have on black history, black culture and the film industry.

Olaniyan said he now is based in Atlanta full-time and is devoting his life to acting and directing.

“I’ve had roles in smaller films, but this was my first major film,” he said.

Olaniyan was about 10 years old when his family moved to Lee County from Nigeria. He has two brothers and a sister, who now is attending high school in Ghana. As a student at Lee County High School, Olaniyan said he was very active in drama. He said he carried that interest with him to college.

“I was looking for a way to get into the industry full-time,” he said. “My college drama teacher introduced me to an agent in Atlanta.”

Olaniyan said he believes Atlanta is becoming “the biggest place in the world” for the film industry.

“With all of the tax incentives (in Georgia), not a lot of films are being made in L.A. or New York anymore, they are coming here to Georgia,” Olaniyan said.

As for his role in “Black Panther,” Olaniyan is technically an extra, but he is featured in a very pivotal scene.

“In this scene you will be able to figure out why the villain does what he is going to do,” the actor said.

Olaniyan said there are actually two villains in the story: the white men who killed the Black Panther’s father in a civil war and “Kill Monger,” who is out to steal the Vibranium.

Marvel Comics’ “Black Panther” was originally conceived in 1966 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, two Jewish New Yorkers, as a way to offer black readers a character with which to identify. The comic hero, whose real name is T’Challa, is the likely heir to the throne of Wakanda, a fictional African nation.

Although there have been plenty of critically and commercially successful films featuring black casts and/or leads, a University of Southern California study found that out of 30,000 characters in the 700 top grossing films between 2007 and 2014, almost three-quarters were white. Additionally, looking through the history of black successes at the box office, there are a few key themes that repeatedly occur, from the earliest days of Hollywood to the present.

Films that have had a significant impact in black film history include Steve McQueen’s Oscar-winner “12 Years a Slave” (2013) and Nate Parker’s “The Birth of a Nation” (2016). These were among recent movies tackling the subject of slavery.

One of the first films to feature a significant number of black characters played by black actors was 1939’s “Gone With the Wind,” the epic adaptation of Margaret Mitchell’s novel about slavery and the U.S. Civil War. Hattie McDaniel was the first black actor to win an Oscar, picking up a trophy for her supporting role in the movie as house servant “Mammy.” She was unable to attend the film’s premiere, though, because it took place in a whites-only cinema.

In 1963, Sidney Poitier became the first black recipient of the Oscar for Best Actor for his role as “Homer Smith,” a handyman building a chapel for a group of German nuns.

“Black Panther” is a far cry from stereotypes of the past.

Even though “Black Panther” is not the first major black superhero movie, it is the first that draws so heavily on African history while envisioning a futuristic dreamworld. In a recent New York Times article, writer Carvell Wallace describes the film as “a vivid re-imagination of something black Americans have cherished for centuries — Africa as a dream of our wholeness, greatness and self-realization.”

Wallace also said that the new film marks a “defining moment for black America.”

“The story represents how Africa could have been if all of its resources had not been taken aware and what it may become if all those resources could be restored in a futuristic world,” said Olaniyan.

Asked the primary take-away from the “Black Panther” film, Olaniyan said it is to “Stand up for and fight for what you believe in. It’s about empowerment. It’s about a sense of community. It’s about everybody being on the same page to advance our cause.”

Byrd agreed.

“(The movie is) about reclaiming what should have always been,” Byrd said.

Matt Kennedy