"Black Panther" Breaks Records as Marvel's Second Biggest Pre-Opening Ever
Marvel's highly anticipated film "Black Panther" opened in Thursday previews to record-breaking numbers. The film opened to an impressive $25.2 million, coming in second to "Avengers: Age of Ultron," which made $27.6 million on Thursday preview night.
The Wrap's film reporter Beatrice Verhoeven sits down with Alyssa Julya Smith in Los Angeles to talk about some of the cultural implications of the film, and how it's become a worldwide phenomenon. Vanhoeven discusses how Black Panther has signaled a shift in the industry that could lead to more and more lead roles for minorities in big budget blockbusters. She also cites Ava DuVernay's "A Wrinkle in Time" as another example of this shift.
Vanhoeven also talks about the fact that teachers are bringing their entire classes to see the film as it's a good depiction of underrepresented groups in film. Marvel's "Black Panther" is expected to make more than $150 million over the holiday weekend.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputy died after he was shot in his patrol car Saturday evening by an unknown assailant, and an investigation is underway that the sheriff said will press all of the department’s resources into action.
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