Director Ryan Coogler calls ‘Black Panther’ an ‘espionage thriller’ ‘family drama’ with a ‘political side’
Black Panther is certainly one of the most anticipated movies of the year, and with tickets going officially going on sale yesterday, Marvel’s publicity machine will be in full swing.
Director Ryan Coogler spoke about the film, influences and offered up an interesting label: “espionage thriller.”
“I think it’s a bit of an espionage thriller. I think it’s a little bit of a family drama,” Coogler said in an interview with Fandango. “He’s dealing with the loss of his father, so similar to any film that deals with royalty, you have a family element and you have a political side, too. It works as a political drama as well.”
The movie has been called a cross between the James Bond movies and The Godfather, to which Coogler eagerly agreed, saying, “Definitely with James Bond. I think similar to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we’re definitely influenced by the films of the ’70s and influenced by crime fiction.”
He continued: “For me, I try to pull from a wide variety of films. I love watching movies, man. I’ve been a fan of watching movies way before I even knew I would ever make them. I’m definitely from the school of studying films. My favorite film is a film called A Prophet, a French film that was released almost a decade ago now, which seems a bit crazy. Any time I’m making a movie, I’m always leaning on inspiration from that one.”
T’Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman (42, Get On Up) was introduced in Captain America: Civil War. T’Challa is struggling to cope with the loss of his father T’Chaka, but is determined to live up to his great legacy. When Wakanda finds herself beset by two enemies intent on the nation’s downfall, Black Panther must use his new suit and heightened strength, speed and senses to defend Wakanda and the rest of the world.
The film also stars Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, and Andy Serkis.
Black Panther is set to hit theaters on February 16, 2018.
