Ryan Coogler, W. Kamau Bell & Nikyatu Jusu To Be Feted At Sundance’s Inaugural ‘Opening Night’ Event

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever co-writer/director Ryan Coogler joined Deadline’s Contenders LA3C panel to reflect on the impact of the untimely passing of Chadwick Boseman and the sensitive display of Black motherhood. 

Partnering with this weekend’s inaugural LA3C developed by Deadline parent company, PMC, Deadline’s signature Contenders event hits Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday December 10 for a live in person/virtual edition and final Contenders -film opportunity before Oscar nomination voting begins. With films not previously highlighted at our previous LA and NY outings this Fall, A Man Called Otto, The Woman King, The Banshees Of Inisherin, Emancipation, and The Pale Blue Eye will be front and center for voters and public along with newly produced visits with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis, and Top Gun: Maverick all with talent appearing live at our venue, the J. W. Marriott at LA Live. Also returning to Deadline Contenders will be filmmakers from Till, Thirteen Lives, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio.

Generation,” “Radical,” “Shayda,” and “Run Rabbit Run,” as well as a Shorts program, to be announced at a later date. “Blueback,” an Australian film featured in the Kids program, is set to screen at the Opening Night Gala, where Sundance alum Ryan Coogler, Nikyatu Jusu, W. Kamau Bell and others will be honored.

*Be warned, major spoilers ahead for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”* Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is expected to cross $600 million at the global box office this weekend. And it’s really quite the feat that co-writer/director Ryan Coogler was able to pull off, given the heartbreaking development process after losing actor Chadwick Boseman and trying to get the massive film completed while honoring his memory.

Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw was one of the most sought-after names at the recent Camerimage film festival, with both fans and industry colleagues flocking to hear her speak at a post-screening Q&A.

There’s a special place at cowriter/director Ryan Coogler’s table and in his heart for those who supported Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

It’s not like people weren’t going to the cinema yesterday as we head toward Thanksgiving: Disney/Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever made $9.5M on Tuesday propelling the Ryan Coogler-directed sequel past the the three century mark with $303.7M, making it the 7th film to pass that threshold this year after Top Gun: Maverick, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Jurassic World: Dominion, Minions: The Rise of Gru, The Batman and Thor: Love and Thunder.

Critics loved Nikyatu Jusu‘s “Nanny” at its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Now, moviegoers may see what all the fuss is about as the horror film hits limited theaters today.

Premiering in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, Nikyatu Jusu’s unsettling “Nanny” is a supernatural thriller that weaves together strands of domestic drama and West African folklore.

Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles welcomed a record 29 of the year’s buzziest movies from 14 studios and streamers live on stage Saturday at the DGA Theater. A crowd of key Academy and key guild voters took in the all-day affair, hearing from the stars and creatives behind the movies that are making noise this awards season. Now you can hear from them too.

Nanny director Nikyatu Jusu joined Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles awards-season event to talk about her film’s visual language, her mother’s own immigrant experience, and casting new Black actors.  

Sundance prize-winning filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu has unveiled new details about her forthcoming feature for Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw and Universal that we told you about first in January.

The fruits of Disney’s industry-reported $100M+ promotional partner campaign on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever have been yielded, not just in a November U.S./Canada box office opening record of $181.3M and 12.7M admissions but in stoking a diverse range of demographics including Black, Latino/Hispanic and older women to cinemas in droves this past weekend.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” opens in theaters today in the US to close out Phase 4 for the MCU. But don’t expect the film’s worldwide box office numbers to reach those of Ryan Coogler‘s 2018 film.

**Spoiler Alert: This is an article for those that have already seen “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” If you have not, bookmark this page, turn around, see the movie and come back. Spoiler Alert end.** A dramatic meditation on grief, mourning, and healing, while also acting as an action-packed superhero look at how vengeance can consume us—not to mention all its geopolitical and ideological ideas of protecting one’s identities, traditions, and right to exist—Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is in theaters now and is a lot of movie.

There’s power in hair. Black Panther‘s lead beautician Camille Friend made it her mission to create an authentic and captivating depiction of African and Black American beauty.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” opens in theaters today in the US to close out Phase 4 for the MCU. But don’t expect the film’s worldwide box office numbers to reach those of Ryan Coogler‘s 2018 film.

Honoring the king. When Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer in August 2020, director Ryan Coogler reworked the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever script to write out the late actor’s character.