Gina Prince-Bythewood Talks ‘The Woman King’ Slavery Backlash: “You Cannot Win An Argument On Twitter”

Viola Davis looks stunning in a black and white gown at the premiere of her new movie, The Woman King, held at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on Monday (October 3) in London, England.

Clayton Davis After two weeks of solid showings at the box office, excellent reviews and passionate fan responses, “The Woman King” has become one of the year’s standout hits, with plans to be competitive in the awards races for both major and artisan category attention.  One of the film’s standout stars, Thuso Mbedu, who plays the young Nawi, will be campaigning for supporting actress attention, Variety has learned. Academy Award winner Viola Davis (“Fences”) will be the sole actress campaigning for lead actress.  Mbedu, who was the breakout sensation of 2021’s Emmy-nominated series “The Underground Railroad” from director Barry Jenkins, will compete in supporting alongside her co-stars Sheila Atim, Jayme Lawson, Adrienne Warren and most prominent, Lashana Lynch. All of the male actors, including John Boyega, will be competing in supporting actor. 

The Woman King” star Thuso Mbedu isn’t ruling out a potential sequel for the Sony film, which premiered on Sept. 16. Though Mbedu said director Gina Prince-Bythewood has made it known she doesn’t “believe” in sequels, her co-star John Boyega had an idea that may be too good to pass up. “I texted Gina the other day about it,” Mbedu told Variety at the Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program cocktail celebration on Thursday night, for which she was serving as a juror. “Gina said she doesn’t believe in sequels, but John had a nice idea for the sequel… I told it to Gina and she was like, ‘Ah, actually that could work,’ and then started bouncing ideas and I’m like, ‘Gina, go to sleep!’ And she was like, ‘No my mind is ticking already.’ So, we don’t know. Only Sony will tell us.”

Viola Davis is addressing the controversy surrounding her new film.

“Woman King.”The star and producer of the female war epic has responded to critics and the recent #BoycottWomanKing movement.Users across social media have been calling for fans to not buy a ticket to the film. They believe that the film is historically inaccurate and glorifies the role that the African kingdom — the Dahomey — had in the slave trade in the 19th century.The Oscar winner, 57, and her husband (as well as producing partner) Julius Tennon defended the flick to Variety in a recent interview.“I agree with [director] Gina Prince-Bythewood’s saying is you’re not going to win an argument on Twitter,” Davis said.

Clayton Davis As the filmmaking team for “The Woman King” travels to Brazil to promote the historical epic, Viola Davis and her husband and producing partner Julius Tennon are celebrating the success of the film’s no. 1 debut at the box office, grossing $19 million domestically. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 10, followed by opening in theaters one week later. It’s one of the rare films where critics and general audiences given it a similarly positive reception, with a 95% critics score and 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It even pulled off an “A+” Cinema Score. Davis emphasizes that the story of “The Woman King” can connect to all audiences, not only Black women.

Jon Burlingame editor It took the combined talents of four Grammy winners, a symphony orchestra and a choir of African-American opera singers to make “The Woman King” resonate with the sounds of 19th-century West Africa. “This was one of those once-in-a-lifetime films,” says composer Terence Blanchard of director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s project, for which he wrote a powerful score – the likes of which haven’t been heard in a period African film since Quincy Jones’ “Roots” 45 years ago. “All of your experiences lead you to this moment, to work on something like this,” says the two-time Oscar nominee and five-time Grammy winner. “As soon as I saw it, I was floored. I looked at these characters as the founding DNA of all the strong African-American women I experienced growing up.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter It’s been proven time and time again that Academy Award attention has little to do with box office glory. Just look at recent winners like “Moonlight,” “The Hurt Locker,” or “CODA,” the first streaming movie to land the Oscar’s top prize, all of which were more beloved than seen, at least by the general public. But during a year in which several commercial movies, including “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.44 billion globally and counting), “Elvis” ($284 million globally) “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (scheduled for Nov. 11) and “Avatar: The Way of Water” (scheduled for Dec. 16), look to find themselves in the awards race, film industry analysts believe the box office may play a part in keeping movies from major studios in the conversation.

Sheila Atim marveled that the top four actors listed on the call sheet during filming of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s hot epic The Woman King “are all dark-skinned Black women.”

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.Produced by and starring Viola Davis, The Washington Post called the film the actress’ “ultimate flex.” The drama, which cost $50 million to make, is projected to take in anywhere from $13.5 million to $22.5 million during its domestic debut, according to Forbes.Clubbing its way to second place was “Barbarian” which earned over $1.96 million. The horror-thriller, which Vogue said is one of “the best reasons to go to the movies right now,” tells the story of a young woman, played by Georgina Campbell, who discovers the remote home she booked on Airbnb was double-booked by a man, portrayed by Bill Skarsgård.

“The Woman King” has stormed into theaters. The 1800s West Africa-set story was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Old Guard”), with a story by Maria Bello and script by Dana Stevens. Star and producer Viola Davis and Prince-Bythewood have discussed in several interviews the long journey it took to get this story on the big screen. Davis leads an incredible cast of actors, which we will detail below.

“The Woman King,” starring Viola Davis, is now playing in theaters, and much like past historical actioners like “Braveheart” or “Gladiator,” those who venture out to see the film will likely be wondering how much of it is rooted in fact.John Boyega, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Adrienne Warren and others star alongside Davis in the story of West African women warriors who take no husbands and serve in their positions for a lifetime to protect their nation. Davis’ character is based on a real life historic figure named General Nanisca, and in the film she trains new recruits alongside Izogie (Lynch) and Amenza (Atim). Headstrong new recruit Nawi (Mbedu) and her peers Fumbe (Masali Baduza) and Ode (Adrienne Warren) challenge their elder superiors with new battle tactics, thoughts and principles. So is “The Woman King” a true story? The short answer is yes, the film derives from real historical events and accounts, but only so much reliable source material was available.

EXCLUSIVE: Sheila Atim MBE (The Woman King) has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

“The Woman King,” the historical action epic starring Viola Davis, took in $1.7 million at the box office from its Thursday night preview screenings, which opened at 3 p.m. on 3,271 screens. The Sony and eOne film will launch at 3,765 locations this weekend.In its opening weekend, the studio projects “The Woman King” to earn $12 million against a $50 million budget.

Jordan Moreau Sony’s “The Woman King,” starring Viola Davis, has earned $1.7 million at the domestic box office, as theatergoers slowly embrace one of the first major studio releases in a few weeks. The historical epic is aiming for a $15 million opening this weekend, where it doesn’t face much competition from rival releases. Other projections see a launch as high as $18 million to $20 million, or as low as $12 million. “The Woman King” comes with a $50 million price tag, so results on the lower end would be less than royal for Sony. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Old Guard,” “Love & Basketball”), the movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last week, where it had a warm reception from attendees. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Davis as a powerful general of the Agojie, an all-female military regiment that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey. The cast includes John Boyega, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu and Sheila Atim.

Viola Davis is stepping out for a special screening of her new movie!

The new movie The Woman King, starring Viola Davis, is getting incredible reviews and fans will likely be rushing to the theaters to see it this weekend.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Fresh off its enthusiastic world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, the Viola Davis-led historical epic “The Woman King” will touch down in 3,700 North American movie theaters over the weekend. The domestic box office desperately needs a boost, but will U.S. audiences be as receptive as festival-goers in Canada? Touted as the real-life “Black Panther,” Sony’s “The Woman King” is aiming to collect at least $15 million in its domestic debut. Independent box office observers are optimistic that opening weekend returns could reach $17 million to $20 million. Yet Sony, who co-financed the movie with eOne, is projecting $12 million, in line with 2018’s “Widows,” which also starred Davis. Replicating those ticket sales, even with tempered pandemic-expectations, would be tepid-at-best since “The Woman King” carries a $50 million price tag.

glowing reception. With Viola Davis starring as General Nanisca, commander of the Agoije, an all-woman army that defends the Kingdom of Dahomey, the film depicts an ongoing war with the Oyo Empire and the leadership of Dahomey’s newest ruler, King Ghezo (John Boyega).