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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 26 February 2018
Second weekend for 'Black Panther' is one of the best ever

By JAKE COYLE Paramount earlier sold the
NEW YORK (AP) — "Black film’s international rights
Panther" scored one of the (except in China) to Net-
best second weekends flix after disappointing re-
ever with an estimated actions in test screenings.
$108 million in ticket sales, Opening weekend audi-
putting it on track to rank ences largely responded
among the highest-gross- similarly, giving the film a
ing blockbusters ever. poor C CinemaScore.
Ryan Coogler's Marvel sen- It’s not uncommon for stu-
sation is on a box-office dios to offload international
course that few films have rights to recoup their costs.
managed, according to But selling an ambitious film
studio estimates Sunday. from Garland, writer-direc-
It is only the fourth film to tor of 2015’s acclaimed “Ex
earn $100 million in its sec- Machina,” to Netflix was
ond weekend, along with seen by some as a sign of
"Star Wars: The Force Awak- diminishing aspirations for a
ens" ($149.2 million), "Juras- Hollywood major studio.
sic World" ($106.6 million) This image released by Disney shows a scene from Marvel Studios' "Black Panther." But Paramount has been
Associated Press
and "The Avengers" ($103.1 behind some of the more
million). analyst for comScore. "Now cent Caucasian, 18 per- moviegoers brought in by artistically audacious re-
Only "The Force Awakens" the question isn't so much if cent Hispanic and 7 per- "Black Panther." leases in recent years,
had a better second week- it gets to $1 billion, but how cent Asian, according to "It's that whole 'a rising tide including Darren Aronof-
end than "Black Panther," far beyond that number comScore. floats all boats,'" said Jeff sky’s “mother!,” Alexander
which dropped 47 percent does it go." The film's success didn't ap- Goldstein, distribution head Payne’s “Downsizing” and
after its opening weekend The results so far put it in pear to hurt the handful of for Warner Bros. Martin Scorsese’s “Silence.”
of $201.8 million. the company of "Jurassic new releases. "The whole (comedy) “Annihilation,” an unusu-
"Black Panther" has grossed World," which ended up Faring the best was "Game genre is just really troubled," ally challenging and psy-
$400 million domestically grossing $1.67 billion world- Night," starring Jason Bate- he added. "New Line is, I chedelic sci-fi release for
and $704 million worldwide wide, and "The Avengers," man and Rachel McAd- think, particularly good at a major studio, cost about
in two weeks. The film, star- which ultimately hauled ams, from Warner Bros.' teasing these movies out $40 million to produce. It’s
ring Chadwick Boseman in $1.52 billion. Both rank New Line. The comedy, to be the best versions of among the last releases
and Michael B. Jordan, has among the top five of all which cost about $37 mil- them. They've had a lot of green-lit by previous Para-
held even better overseas, time, not accounting for in- lion to make and was di- success in the past, wheth- mount head Brad Grey.
where it dropped 42 per- flation. rected by John Francis er it be 'Horrible Bosses' or Jim Gianopulos took over
cent this weekend. Its re- "Black Panther" is spurring a Daley and Jonathan Gold- 'Central Intelligence.'" as chief executive and
lease in China, the world's surge for the industry. The stein, debuted with $16.6 Alex Garland’s sci-fi thriller chairman last year, and
second-largest film market, overall box office is up 12.5 million, coming in slightly “Annihilation,” starring Nat- he is pushing a more fran-
is set for March 9. percent from last year, ac- above forecasts. alie Portman, also debuted chise-focused agenda.
"Whatever your projections cording to comScore. Though comedies have with some momentum Kyle Davies, Paramount’s
for 'Black Panther' might And the movie is doing it struggled at the box of- thanks to strong reviews. domestic distribution chief,
be, just increase them by with an especially diverse fice in recent years, "Game It opened with $11 million declined to comment on
20 percent and you might audience. This weekend's Night" got a modest boost on about 2,000 screens (or the Netflix deal but said he
be on point," said Paul Der- audience was 33 percent from good reviews and about half the number of was pleased with the film’s
garabedian, senior media African-American, 37 per- perhaps from the waves of “Black Panther”). performance.q

Winfrey praises Florida students

as 'warriors of the light'

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oprah trol "a proud moment." erspoon and Mindy Kaling.
Winfrey has nothing but "It's an evolving moment The film is adapted from
praise for the Florida school for our country. The same Madeleine L'Engle's sci-
shooting survivors who thing happened, as you ence-fiction fantasy novel.
have channeled angst into know, back in the '50s and "These young people get
activism, calling them "war- '60s for the civil rights move- to be literally warriors of the
riors of the light" and com- ment," Winfrey said. "Young light," Winfrey said. "That's
paring them to civil rights people said, 'We will not what they're trying to do.
pioneers. tolerate what our ancestors They're trying to — through
In an interview with The have tolerated. We have their voices, through the In this Jan. 7, 2018, file photo, Oprah Winfrey poses in the press
Associated Press on Satur- had enough and we're will- March For Our Lives — say room with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 75th annual Golden
Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif.
day, Winfrey drew paral- ing to fight for it and willing 'We will not let this happen Associated Press
lels between the teens and to march in the streets for it again. We are going to do
the Freedom Riders of the and, if necessary, die for it.'" what we can to banish the to the students' planned Douglas High School that
1960s, who rode buses into Winfrey spoke while pro- darkness.'" marches, including one on left 17 people dead has
southern states in protest of moting the upcoming film The former talk show March 24 in Washington, sparked calls for walkouts,
racial segregation. Winfrey "A Wrinkle in Time," direct- host last week matched D.C. sit-ins and other actions on
called the Parkland stu- ed by Ava DuVernay and a $500,000 donation by The Feb. 14 mass shoot- school campuses across
dents' protests for gun con- featuring her, Reese With- George and Amal Clooney ing at Marjory Stoneman the U.S.q