After dominating the box office in 2018, Disney is hoping to stretch that success into awards season as its film go up for contention for the Oscars, with Black Panther scoring a nomination for Best Picture.
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In the wake of the news for Marvel Studios‘ Academy Award nomination, Chairman of the Walt Disney Company Robert Iger congratulated the brains behind Black Panther for their recognition.
Congrats to our Studio for its 17 Oscar Noms.
— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) January 23, 2019
It was especially gratifying to see @MarvelStudios groundbreaking #BlackPanther honored with 7. Great creativity is never an accident; it’s the result of talent, vision, passion, and courage. Thank you Ryan Coogler & @KevFeige.
Marvel Studios and Disney know they’ve achieved something special with Black Panther, which was their first solo film without a franchise to make over $1 billion at the box office. Producer Kevin Feige also took to social media to praise director Ryan Coogler, praising him for the film’s success.
“You’re going to hear me say the name ‘Ryan Coogler’ constantly on this phone call,” Feige told The New York Times in an interview today. “To me, the best thing a producer can do is find a person with something to say, who has a story to tell and can tell it in a way that the world responds to. That’s what Mr. Coogler has done for us.”
Coogler was praised for his films like Fruitvale Station and Creed, which reignited the Rocky franchise with Michael B. Jordan as the new face. Marvel Studios has made a lot of progress in giving the keys to talented, up-and-coming directors. They just hit a home run with Coogler, as Feige previously said on Variey’s Playback podcast.
“With what Ryan was doing, what he had to say, and vouching for crew members that we had not worked with before but that he believed in — he came in and blew us away with initial sort of presentations to get the job,” said Feige.
“For them to have stepped up and knocked it out of the park the way they did is incredible. It comes down to a filmmaker who has such a deft hand at being able to balance something that is going to have entertainment value with being true to his soul and being true to the questions he had growing up.”
Fans will find out if Black Panther takes home the golden statue when the Academy Awards air on ABC on Sunday, February 24th.
