'Black Panther' director developing Wakanda TV series for Disney+

Tuesday, 2 February 2021 08:50

By REUTERS

KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

'Black Panther' director and co-writer Ryan Coogler is developing a streaming television series set in the movie's fictional futuristic kingdom of Wakanda, Walt Disney Co said on Monday.

The new series for the Disney+ streaming service will be created as part of a five-year television deal with Coogler's Proximity Media production company, Disney said in a statement.

No release date was announced.

Coogler is currently working on a movie sequel to 2018 blockbuster Black Panther, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters in July 2022.

The original Black Panther, the first Marvel Studios film with a predominantly Black cast and a Black director, took in $1.3 billion at box offices around the world and earned a best picture nomination at the Oscars.

The movie starred the late Chadwick Boseman as a proud leader in Wakanda. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has said the role will not be recast following Boseman's death in August 2020.

Disney said in December that it plans to release 10 new TV series each in the Marvel and Star Wars franchises as it competes for streaming viewers with Netflix Inc and others.

More from Entertainment News

OJ Simpson cremated during private Las Vegas gathering

OJ Simpson, the onetime football star infamously tried and acquitted of double-murder charges, was cremated on Wednesday during a private gathering of friends and family in downtown Las Vegas, according to the executor of his estate.
Prince William returns to public duties after wife Kate's cancer revelation

Britain's Prince William will return to public duties on Thursday for the first time since his wife Kate revealed she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy for cancer.
Hugh Grant settles privacy lawsuit against Murdoch's Sun tabloid

British actor Hugh Grant has settled a lawsuit against the publisher of Rupert Murdoch's tabloid newspaper, The Sun, over claims journalists used private investigators to tap his phone and burgle his house, he said on Wednesday.
'Rust' armorer sentenced to 18 months in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin

Hannah Gutierrez, the chief weapons handler for the Western movie "Rust," was sentenced to 18 months in prison on Monday in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was shot when actor Alec Baldwin was handling a gun during the film's production in 2021.
'Sunset Boulevard' and Nicole Scherzinger shine at UK's Olivier awards

A revived version of "Sunset Boulevard," the musical based on the 1950s film, and its leading actress Nicole Scherzinger were among the big winners at the Olivier Awards on Sunday, picking up seven prizes at Britain's top theatre ceremony.