‘Black Panther’ has become the first superhero movie to gain the second-highest honor in the motion picture industry– a nomination for Best Picture of the Year from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, more colloquially known as The Oscars. In addition to Best Picture, ‘Black Panther’ is also up for six more accolades– Best Costume Design (for Ruth E. Carter), Best Original Score (Ludwig Goransson), Best Sound Mixing (Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin), Best Sound Editing (Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker), Best Production Design (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart), and Best Original Song for “All the Stars” by Kendrick Lamar featuring SZA.
Even if it doesn’t win, just gaining the Best Picture nomination is a massive step for “popcorn movies.” Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige, who has overseen every Marvel Cinematic Universe picture since the first, ‘Iron Man’, reacted, saying:
“The word that keeps coming to me from the moment it happened is just this humbling sense of pride for everyone involved in the movie. It’s the most important recognition that a film can receive in our industry. That’s not lost on any of us. It’s something that’s immensely gratifying. As the numerous phone calls and text messages [show] that went back and forth between all of us who were lucky enough to work on the film, it is just … pride.”
When ‘Black Panther’ opened last spring, the hashtag #itsnotamovieitsamovement erupted on social media, as the African American community embraced the first major superhero movie with a mostly black cast, but the film drew viewers from all walks of life, and even outside of the United States, the film was a huge smash, with it amassing over $1 billion worldwide. On top of that, it was the best-reviewed film of 2018, according to aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.
Unfortunately, ‘Black Panther’ was only nominated for Best Picture, in the major categories. It got no recognition for acting, directing or screenplay, so that doesn’t bode well or its odds of winning that award. It should be noted that it has been nominated in the same category for many other awards, including the Golden Globes, the Critics’ Choice Awards, and the Producers’ Guild Award, and it didn’t win any of those.
But at least this is a step toward legitimizing superhero movies in the stuffy world of the Hollywood elite.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
