‘The Woman King’: How Costume Designer Gersha Phillips Relied on African Artisans to Create Warrior Costumes (EXCLUSIVE)

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Fresh off its enthusiastic world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, the Viola Davis-led historical epic “The Woman King” will touch down in 3,700 North American movie theaters over the weekend. The domestic box office desperately needs a boost, but will U.S. audiences be as receptive as festival-goers in Canada? Touted as the real-life “Black Panther,” Sony’s “The Woman King” is aiming to collect at least $15 million in its domestic debut. Independent box office observers are optimistic that opening weekend returns could reach $17 million to $20 million. Yet Sony, who co-financed the movie with eOne, is projecting $12 million, in line with 2018’s “Widows,” which also starred Davis. Replicating those ticket sales, even with tempered pandemic-expectations, would be tepid-at-best since “The Woman King” carries a $50 million price tag.

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.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Laika, the animation studio behind “ParaNorman” and “Coraline,” has announced a six-part series exploring the costumes, props and sets from its iconic films. Titled “Laika Archives,” the series will be released on Sept. 13 via the company’s YouTube channel and features artisans like costume designer Deb Cook, head of model-making Keith McQueen and writer-director Chris Butler. Says Butler, “There’s something truly magical about walking into a room and seeing a table full of gorgeous sculpts, gorgeous artwork that’s been created by very talented people.” David Burke, Laika chief marketing officer and SVP of operations, adds: “Laika creates movies that matter. It takes a community of talented artists, artisans and technologists to make a Laika film. Because they are crafted in the stop motion animation medium, the studio has many physical assets from each film.”

When fans complain about the inclusion of women of color in action franchises, they often fall back on the same talking points: it’s not about sexism, it’s just that filmmakers should create different, original movies for Black and Brown actors. Gina Prince Bythewood has done just that with “The Woman King” and proven what we already knew: that women always have and always will make formidable action heroes.

synopsis on IMDB. The talented actress opted for a colorful ensemble as she attended the premiere of her latest historical drama.  Viola slipped into a hot pink, floor-length gown with orange, floral fabric lined at the top of the dress for an extra pop of color and differing texture.

Viola Davis is more than proud of her latest film project titled, The Woman King, which made its grand premiere during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival earlier on Friday.The Academy Award winner, 57, turned heads in an eye-catching floor-length gown as she posed for photos on the star-studded red carpet.The historical epic is based on true events from the Kingdom of Dahomey, which was the 'most powerful states of Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries,' according to the official synopsis on IMDB. Breathtaking: Viola Davis, 57, turned heads as she attended the screening of The Woman King at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier on Friday The talented actress opted for a colorful ensemble as she attended the premiere of her latest historical drama.  Viola slipped into a hot pink, floor-length gown with orange, floral fabric lined at the top of the dress for an extra pop of color and differing texture.During a past interview with InStyle, The Help star opened up about her fashion inspiration.'In general, I would say my style is still bleeding over from who I was in New York, which was, I always I just wanted to be different.'   Glamorous: The award-winning star was dressed to impress as she celebrated the premiere of her latest film project To coincide with the glamorous, strapless gown, Viola slipped into a pair of hot pink, high heels that shone in the light. In order to not take away from the vibrancy of the dress, she opted to not add any pieces of jewelry. Her makeup was elegant and chic, which included black eyeliner, shimmering eyeshadow and a pink lipstick. While on the red carpet, Viola was seen posing with fellow cast members and other creative artists involved on the film project.

Gina Prince Bythewood’s period film The Woman King opens with an incredible action sequence with General Nanisca (Viola Davis) of The Agojie army approaching a village of men holding their women hostage. Men are getting sliced, diced and tossed across the screen by these mighty warrior women. After they arrive back in the Dahomey kingdom victorious, the story introduces Nawi (Thuso Mbedu), an unmarried young woman deemed worthless because she has no husband. She’s taken to the palace and introduced to Izogie (Lashana Lynch) and Amenza (Shiela Atim), Dahomey’s top soldiers in the King Ghezo Royal guard. Women in the army are respected, and when they pledge to service, they take an oath of celibacy and childlessness to be accepted and train.

Usually the best said is saved for last at a TIFF premiere, meaning the biggest speeches come during a pic’s Q & A. However, The Woman King star and producer Viola Davis brought the house down with a passionate speech about her “magnum opus” film, and how she hopes it inspires generations of Black women.

Viola Davis stuns in a bright pink dress at the premiere of her new movie, The Woman King, during the 2022 Toronto Film Festival at Roy Thomson Hall on Friday (September 9) in Toronto, Canada.

The winds of change with theatrical and streaming coming out of Covid were top of mind this morning at the TIFF panel for Dialogues: Production & Development which included TriStar President Nicole Brown, Knives Out franchise producer Ram Bergman and White Noise producer Uri Singer.