We’ve known for months now that Disney was going to push hard for “Black Panther” to get a Best Picture nomination at this year’s Academy Awards. The film, which seemingly came out of nowhere (yes, even for a Marvel Studios film), became a cultural phenomenon in 2018, breaking records and capturing the hearts and minds of critics and fans alike. But if that wasn’t enough, Disney CEO Bob Iger had a secret weapon to help get the Academy membership to pay attention – Oprah Winfrey.
At a recent event at the London West Hollywood hotel (via THR), Iger got his good friend Winfrey to take the mic in front of over 100 members of the Academy to personally give one of the biggest endorsements yet for “Black Panther.”
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“I just wanted to say that when I first saw Black Panther, I sent an email to my friend Bobby and said, ‘Hi Bobby! Just saw it. It’s worth everything I’ve heard and more. A phenomenon in every way, on every level. Makes me tear up to think that little black children will grow up with ‘Wakanda forever.’ It’s game-changing, it’s pride-making, it’s dazzling, it’s phenomenal.’ That was my personal review,” raved Oprah.
Those are some adjectives coming from Oprah’s mouth that probably sent Iger into cardiac arrest with excitement. Guess it helps to have friends like Oprah and release a film so beloved as “Black Panther.”
“I also know that throngs and throngs and so many people came, and came with their families, and then they went back and they got more family members, and then they went back and told their co-workers and their friends, because everybody recognized that something bigger than a movie was happening up on that screen.”
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She continued, “We all knew — those of us who have come from the culture and the history — how lit it was. It just gave us life! It gave us life! But it was so affirming for everyone who saw it because you knew that it was bigger than this moment — it was a cultural happening — and just to be in the theater was to be a part of all of that.”
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Look, we still don’t know for sure if “Black Panther” is going to get a ton of Oscar love. We know it did really well with Golden Globe nominations, and seems to be in a lot of Best of 2018 lists, but Oscar recognition has, thus far, eluded superhero films. But with campaigns like this from Oprah, it sure does seem like “Black Panther” is poised to make some noise at the Oscars.
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