Filmmaker Ryan Coogler is a pioneer in many ways. While he shot to fame with his feature film debut Fruitvale Station which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Coogler gained huge commercial popularity after he stepped on board to direct Marvel’s Black Panther. The film not only went on to win 3 Oscars, but also created a record by being the highest grossing film of all time by an African American director.
With other impressive films like 2015’s Creed and 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever under his belt, Coogler is seen as an inspiration for Black artists everywhere. In the latest news coming in, the filmmaker’s next project will be a musical based on legendary pop star Prince, another African American icon who paved the way for future generations of artists through his music.
Ryan Coogler To Bankroll A Musical On Pop Legend Prince
At age 37, Ryan Coogler is already seen as one of the most influential Black directors and writers in Hollywood. Shattering the glass ceiling with his Marvel blockbuster Black Panther, Coogler went on to write and direct the sequel in 2022 which worked as an emotional tribute to the legacy of the late Chadwick Boseman.
The Creed director is continuing to champion Black narratives in Hollywood. In the latest news from Jeff Sneider in his blog The Insneider, Coogler has signed up to be one of the producers along with Universal Pictures for a musical biopic on one of America’s legendary singers, Prince.
The Black Panther director will bankroll this film under his production banner Proximity Media along with his wife Zinzi Coogler, with Rebecca Cho as executive producer. The filmmaker has also earned 2 Academy Award nominations and a Grammy nomination for his collaboration with Rihanna in the stirring Black Panther: Wakanda Forever track, Lift Me Up.
With Coogler’s added expertise in the field of music and Prince’s unique singing and fashion style, it will be interesting to see the director’s inputs take shape for the musical. It also remains to be seen if the Marvel filmmaker helms the project or decides to hand over the reins to another director. Meanwhile, his upcoming vampire project with Michael B. Jordan is also gaining a lot of hype.
Chadwick Boseman’s Death Forced Ryan Coogler To Change Black Panther Sequel Story
Marvel’s Black Panther starring Chadwick Boseman as the titular protagonist became a pioneering film in more ways than one. Not only was it a symbol of Black culture, but it also gave director Ryan Coogler the distinction of being the most successful African American director of all time. The commercial and critical success of the film expectedly ensured that a sequel was on the way.
Unfortunately, things did not go as planned for Coogler owing to the unfortunate demise of his lead star Chadwick Boseman. Having locked in the script that was supposed to have a father-son relationship at its core, the filmmaker had to completely rework the screenplay following Boseman’s sad absence.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the producer referred to the end credits scene where King T’Challa and Nakia’s son Toussaint is introduced, and revealed that the character would have been seen much earlier in the film if Boseman had been part of it. Narrating the initial sequence of the original script, he said,
“The first scene was an animated sequence. You hear Nakia talking to Toussaint. She says, ‘Tell me what you know about your father.’ You realize that he doesn’t know his dad was the Black Panther. He’s never met him, and Nakia is remarried to a Haitian dude. Then, we cut to reality and it’s the night that everybody comes back from the Blip. You see T’Challa meet the kid for the first time”
Coogler also elaborated on some memorable scenes between father and son that he had painstakingly envisioned, which included the two characters joining forces to save the world. Sadly, this inspiring story could not see the light of day. Nevertheless, the film succeeded in touching a chord with its emotional ode to Boseman.
