SC native Chadwick Boseman continues red-hot roll at Oscars, box office
Chadwick Boseman is the king of the world.
The South Carolina native is on the type of roll most actors would give anything to experience. Boseman, the star of “Black Panther,” continues to ride the wave of tremendous publicity from the highly popular movie.
For the third week in a row, the movie where Boseman plays plays T’Challa, the king of the fictional African country of Wakanda, and the masked superhero, finished in first place at the box office. It earned $65.7 million domestically this weekend.
“Black Panther” has now grossed $500 million domestically after three weeks of release. It’s the third fastest film to reach the $500 million plateau.
If being the leading actor in the top movie in the country wasn’t good enough for the Anderson native, Boseman scored again with an appearance at the Academy Awards Sunday.
While “Black Panther” could be in the running for some Oscars next year, this time around Boseman was a major draw on the red carpet and as a presenter during the ceremony.
Boseman attracted raves for a gesture he made on the red carpet. he struck the signature pose from “Black Panther,” crossing his arms in front of his chest and delivered the film’s catchphrase “Wakanda forever.”
Boseman, and actress Margot Robbie, presented the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. That allowed both to quote some memorable lines from cinema history, and Boseman got to do an impression of multiple Oscar winner Denzel Washington.
That was one of those full circle moments, because Boseman had some of his acting lessons paid for by Washington.
After graduating from TL Hanna, Boseman attended Howard University, when he and some of his classmates some applied to a prestigious summer theater program at Oxford. The group of students got in, but they couldn’t afford to go. Washington was part of a group of benefactors who paid part of Boseman’s tuition through a scholarship program.
On the red carpet, Boseman revealed he finally had an opportunity to Washington and to thank him.
Boseman said that Washington told him, “You owe me money. And I came to collect.”
Boseman was actually part of an Oscar nominated movie this year. He played the lead role in “Marshall,” a biopic about former Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. The film was nominated for Best Original Song from a motion picture.
Perhaps next year Boseman’s “Black Panther” success will lead to a gold rush at the Oscars.
Boseman has made all types of talk show and publicity appearance imaginable to promote the movie, and has been featured on the covers of Time, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and Essence among other high-profile magazines.
This story was originally published March 5, 2018 at 12:50 AM with the headline "SC native Chadwick Boseman continues red-hot roll at Oscars, box office."