According to hollywoodreporter.com, The Woman King, the Black Female led epic action adventure film that opened to $19.1 million over the September 16-18th weekend at the domestic box office. According to Sony Motion Picture Group co-president Josh Greenstein, “Usually, everyone is rooting against you, Everyone is coming together for this one. It’s a win for Hollywood.” Before now, no Hollywood studio has produced an action-historical drama that is centered around a cast of Black Women. In the same way that Black Panther, Girls Trip and Crazy Rich Asians were defining moments for diversity in Hollywood, so is Woman King.
Woman King, starring Oscar winning actress Viola Davis, made its premiere earlier this month at the Toronto Film Festival. During the opening weekend, Davis convinced audiences to support the film even posting to Twitter on September 18th stating, “if you don’t plop down money on opening weekend, you’re not going to see … Black females leading a movie AGAIN. Please continue supporting #TheWomanKing, NOW PLAYING EXCLUSIVELY in theaters.” Females ultimately made up 58 percent of Woman King’s audience. “The opening shows both the strength of Black moviegoers, the core audience, and moviegoers in general. People want to see all kinds of movies,” says Greenstein.
The best scenario for Woman King would be to clear as much as $80 million domestically. A more conservative projection would be $60 million, with the film rolling out overseas this weekend. It’s too early to officially talk about a sequel, but “It’s an interesting possibility,” says Greenstein. Adds Brown: “You’re not the first person to ask us this question.”
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