Black Panther director and co-writer Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Media has signed a five-year multi-deal with The Walt Disney company, which includes creating a Black Panther TV series for Disney+.
The television series will be a drama based in the Kingdom of Wakanda and the Wakandaland project.
“It’s an honor to be partnering with The Walt Disney Company. Working with them on Black Panther was a dream come true.
“As avid consumers of television, we couldn’t be happier to be launching our television business with Bob Iger, Dana Walden and all the amazing studios under the Disney umbrella”, Coogler said to Deadline.
Speaking on behalf of his production company, Proximity Media, Coogler said they have started working on some projects already with Disney and expressed his gratitude to his new team at Disney for the opportunity to collaborate and work on exciting programs.
Marvel announced there was going to be a sequel to the Coogler directed box office success movie, Black Panther, but the move didn’t see the light of the day following the news of the inadvertent and untimely death of Chadwick Boseman in 2020.
Fans were however assured he will not be recast but will be honored in the sequel which would rather “explore the world of Wakanda & the rich characters introduced in the first film.” It is set to hit theaters on July 8, 2022.
“Ryan Coogler is a singular storyteller whose vision and range have made him one of the standout filmmakers of his generation,” said Bob Iger, Executive Chairman, The Walt Disney Company.
According to him, Coogler had a way of corroborating fiction with real life cultural events into a beautiful story that sparked a worldwide cultural awareness among many people the world over.
With such a feat under his belt, Iger said he is ready to build their relationship and bring more beautiful stories to life together.
This 31-year-old African-American director has within just five years made a bold mark in his career.
He discovered a potential future in film at Saint Mary’s while on a football scholarship. He was then taking a creative writing class when his professor assigned the class to write about a personal experience.
Coogler decided to write about the time his father nearly bled to death in his arms. The professor, after reading his work, pulled him aside and asked what he wanted to do with his life. At the time he said he only wanted to play ball, become a doctor and be a positive influence in his community.
Even though he is not a doctor, Coogler has sure left an indelible mark in the film industry and society as whole through his storytelling and production.
Per Deadline, Coogler made his debut into Hollywood with the much-hailed Fruitvale Station. Like the Midas touch he worked on Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky Balboa character and reunited with Michael B. Jordan for the Creed franchise which was also a success.
To date Black Panther is the highest earning film by a Black filmmaker grossing $1.3 billion worldwide. The movie was also nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
