Gina Prince-Bythewood Talks ‘The Woman King’ Slavery Backlash: “You Cannot Win An Argument On Twitter”

The Woman King” star Thuso Mbedu isn’t ruling out a potential sequel for the Sony film, which premiered on Sept. 16. Though Mbedu said director Gina Prince-Bythewood has made it known she doesn’t “believe” in sequels, her co-star John Boyega had an idea that may be too good to pass up. “I texted Gina the other day about it,” Mbedu told Variety at the Tribeca Chanel Women’s Filmmaker Program cocktail celebration on Thursday night, for which she was serving as a juror. “Gina said she doesn’t believe in sequels, but John had a nice idea for the sequel… I told it to Gina and she was like, ‘Ah, actually that could work,’ and then started bouncing ideas and I’m like, ‘Gina, go to sleep!’ And she was like, ‘No my mind is ticking already.’ So, we don’t know. Only Sony will tell us.”

Viola Davis is addressing the controversy surrounding her new film.

“Woman King.”The star and producer of the female war epic has responded to critics and the recent #BoycottWomanKing movement.Users across social media have been calling for fans to not buy a ticket to the film. They believe that the film is historically inaccurate and glorifies the role that the African kingdom — the Dahomey — had in the slave trade in the 19th century.The Oscar winner, 57, and her husband (as well as producing partner) Julius Tennon defended the flick to Variety in a recent interview.“I agree with [director] Gina Prince-Bythewood’s saying is you’re not going to win an argument on Twitter,” Davis said.

Clayton Davis As the filmmaking team for “The Woman King” travels to Brazil to promote the historical epic, Viola Davis and her husband and producing partner Julius Tennon are celebrating the success of the film’s no. 1 debut at the box office, grossing $19 million domestically. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Sept. 10, followed by opening in theaters one week later. It’s one of the rare films where critics and general audiences given it a similarly positive reception, with a 95% critics score and 99% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It even pulled off an “A+” Cinema Score. Davis emphasizes that the story of “The Woman King” can connect to all audiences, not only Black women.

Jon Burlingame editor It took the combined talents of four Grammy winners, a symphony orchestra and a choir of African-American opera singers to make “The Woman King” resonate with the sounds of 19th-century West Africa. “This was one of those once-in-a-lifetime films,” says composer Terence Blanchard of director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s project, for which he wrote a powerful score – the likes of which haven’t been heard in a period African film since Quincy Jones’ “Roots” 45 years ago. “All of your experiences lead you to this moment, to work on something like this,” says the two-time Oscar nominee and five-time Grammy winner. “As soon as I saw it, I was floored. I looked at these characters as the founding DNA of all the strong African-American women I experienced growing up.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter It’s been proven time and time again that Academy Award attention has little to do with box office glory. Just look at recent winners like “Moonlight,” “The Hurt Locker,” or “CODA,” the first streaming movie to land the Oscar’s top prize, all of which were more beloved than seen, at least by the general public. But during a year in which several commercial movies, including “Top Gun: Maverick” ($1.44 billion globally and counting), “Elvis” ($284 million globally) “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (scheduled for Nov. 11) and “Avatar: The Way of Water” (scheduled for Dec. 16), look to find themselves in the awards race, film industry analysts believe the box office may play a part in keeping movies from major studios in the conversation.

The Woman King made its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival last week, and has since hit theaters across the U.S. on Friday.Leading lady, Viola Davis, has been out en force promoting the historical epic film, with her most recent stop taking her to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.On Sunday, while out on a stroll with her husband in the downtown section of the city, Davis ended up taking an unforeseen break to greet excited fans and take photos with some of them.

Sheila Atim marveled that the top four actors listed on the call sheet during filming of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s hot epic The Woman King “are all dark-skinned Black women.”

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “The Woman King,” a historical action epic starring Viola Davis, ruled over domestic box office charts in its opening weekend. Bolstered by stellar reviews and positive word-of-mouth, the movie collected $19 million from 3,765 North American cinemas over the weekend, arriving at the higher end of expectations. Independent tracking services projected “The Woman King” would kick off with $15 million to $18 million, while Sony estimated a debut closer to $12 million. Sony is lucky the film exceeded its ultra-conservative forecasts. “The Woman King” cost $50 million to produce, not including the tens of millions in marketing expenses, including a stop at the Toronto International Film Festival.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.Produced by and starring Viola Davis, The Washington Post called the film the actress’ “ultimate flex.” The drama, which cost $50 million to make, is projected to take in anywhere from $13.5 million to $22.5 million during its domestic debut, according to Forbes.Clubbing its way to second place was “Barbarian” which earned over $1.96 million. The horror-thriller, which Vogue said is one of “the best reasons to go to the movies right now,” tells the story of a young woman, played by Georgina Campbell, who discovers the remote home she booked on Airbnb was double-booked by a man, portrayed by Bill Skarsgård.

J. Kim Murphy “The Woman King” has found its throne at the box office. The Sony release is drumming up a projected $18 million opening from 3,765 locations, in line with most analysts’ estimates heading into the weekend. The epic also benefited from landing some premium format auditoriums, such as Imax, lending an additional boost to revenue. Though that doesn’t necessarily qualify as a grand opening, it’s a solid start for the action film, which carries a $50 million production budget and has no ties to existing franchises. What’s more, it’s more than enough for “The Woman King” to top box office charts on a slow weekend with few rival releases.

Saturday AM Update: TriStar/eOne’s The Woman King is coming in higher than expected with a $18M opening boosted by lively word of mouth with an A+ CinemaScore and a massive 95% positive on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak. Friday, including $1.7M previews, came in at $6.8M.

EXCLUSIVE: Sheila Atim MBE (The Woman King) has signed with UTA for representation in all areas.

Jordan Moreau Sony’s “The Woman King,” starring Viola Davis, has earned $1.7 million at the domestic box office, as theatergoers slowly embrace one of the first major studio releases in a few weeks. The historical epic is aiming for a $15 million opening this weekend, where it doesn’t face much competition from rival releases. Other projections see a launch as high as $18 million to $20 million, or as low as $12 million. “The Woman King” comes with a $50 million price tag, so results on the lower end would be less than royal for Sony. Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (“The Old Guard,” “Love & Basketball”), the movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last week, where it had a warm reception from attendees. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Davis as a powerful general of the Agojie, an all-female military regiment that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey. The cast includes John Boyega, Lashana Lynch, Thuso Mbedu and Sheila Atim.

Viola Davis looked chic while walking the red carpet at the Washington, D.C. screening of The Woman King on Thursday. The 57-year-old actress wore a short black dress that stopped high on her thighs. She accessorized with a bright yellow scarf, and she stood in tall black high heels.  Fashionable: Viola Davis looked chic while walking the red carpet at the Washington, D.C.

Viola Davis was worried she was going to have a heart attack while training for epic new movie The Woman King. During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday night, the Oscar-winning actress described the gruelling fitness regime she had to undertake to prepare for her role as General Nanisca in the historical drama about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected a West African kingdom during the 17th to 19th centuries. "I was 56 when I trained to be this warrior.

Viola Davis is stepping out for a special screening of her new movie!

The new movie The Woman King, starring Viola Davis, is getting incredible reviews and fans will likely be rushing to the theaters to see it this weekend.

TORONTO – Venice, Telluride, and TIFF have pretty much come and gone, and, as such, the Oscar race is slightly more clear than it was just two weeks ago. Sure, there are a number of major players yet to show their wares such as Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” James Cameron’s “Avatar 2,” David O.