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Academy Awards 2019: Disney Planning A ‘Black Panther’ Oscar Campaign, And Christopher Nolan Approves

By Aria Teresa
Published on: 22:29 PST, Mar 7, 2018

Black Panther, the behemoth Marvel Studios movie that’s currently dominating box office records worldwide, is being hailed as the best superhero film by critics and viewers alike. Following the call for diversity in the Academy Awards and the inclusion of mainstream superhero movies in the list of nominees, Disney is reportedly contemplating a Black Panther Oscar campaign.

A top Disney executive confirmed to Deadline that the company is planning to launch a “For Your Consideration” campaign for Black Panther, including a push for a Best Picture nod. According to the insider, not only is Disney gunning for an Oscar nomination for the Ryan Coogler-directed movie, but they are also hoping to land nominations for the upcoming Mary Poppins Returns, particularly for its lead star Emily Blunt.

Getting a Marvel Cinematic Universe film into the Academy Awards’ nominee list is not unusual for Disney. In fact, they did the same campaigns for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Thor: Ragnarok. 2016’s Captain America: Civil War was also submitted for awards consideration.

Aside from a Best Picture nomination, critics also foresee Black Panther in other major categories such as Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Song for Kendrick Lamar’s “All The Stars.” The film could also dominate technical categories such as production design, makeup and hairstyling, costume design, and visual effects.

Superhero films are making an emergence in the Oscars. In 2016, DC’s Suicide Squad won the award for Best Makeup and Hair. In this year’s ceremony, Logan was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, but lost against Call Me By Your Name.

If ever Black Panther gets nominated for an Oscar in 2019, it would be the first Marvel Studios film to do so.

Black Panther’s Oscar campaign is already gaining a lot of support, including Academy favorite Christopher Nolan. Speaking to Deadline, the Dunkirk director predicted that Black Panther is a strong contender for Best Picture in the 2019 Oscars.

Meanwhile, Black Panther has topped the $900 million threshold in the global box office. The critical darling is currently winning domestic box office tallies, where it gets 55.5 percent of its earnings. The film has yet to open in China, one of the largest overseas markets for films, and it is predicted that Black Panther could do well enough to sit in the elusive $1 billion club such as The Dark Knight and Rogue One, Forbes reported.

Black Panther is currently in theaters and stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Andy Serkis, Angela Bassett, and Forest Whitaker.

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