"Black Panther" Breaks Records as Marvel's Second Biggest Pre-Opening Ever
Marvel's highly anticipated film "Black Panther" opened in Thursday previews to record-breaking numbers. The film opened to an impressive $25.2 million, coming in second to "Avengers: Age of Ultron," which made $27.6 million on Thursday preview night.
The Wrap's film reporter Beatrice Verhoeven sits down with Alyssa Julya Smith in Los Angeles to talk about some of the cultural implications of the film, and how it's become a worldwide phenomenon. Vanhoeven discusses how Black Panther has signaled a shift in the industry that could lead to more and more lead roles for minorities in big budget blockbusters. She also cites Ava DuVernay's "A Wrinkle in Time" as another example of this shift.
Vanhoeven also talks about the fact that teachers are bringing their entire classes to see the film as it's a good depiction of underrepresented groups in film. Marvel's "Black Panther" is expected to make more than $150 million over the holiday weekend.
The 11,500 members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike this week after negotiations with Hollywood studios that began in March failed to result in an agreement.
Filmmaker and comedian W. Kamau Bell joined Cheddar News to talk about his HBO documentary project, United Shades of America, which tackles growing up mixed-race in America.
British star Ed Sheeran is facing accusations that he plagiarized Marvin Gaye's hit song, "Let's Get It On." Cheddar News breaks down how the high-profile copyright trial came to fruition and gets expert guidance from Joe Bennett, a forensic musicologist.
The 2023 Tony Awards are scheduled for next month, and Some Like It Hot, a musical and theatrical adaptation of the 1959 film, is leading the pack with a total of 13 nominations.
