"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.
New York Comic Con is the East Coast's biggest pop culture event and over 200,000 people attend each year, making it North America's most-attended fan convention. Chris D'Lando, event manager for Reedpop, spoke with Cheddar News to discuss what to expect at this year's festivities.
Back in 1957, the late Queen Elizabeth II gifted a pair of swans to Lake Morton in Lakeland, Florida. Now there are around 50 swans from the original royal pair and each year they are rounded up and given an annual medical check-up to make sure they're all healthy.
