admin
Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Correspondent
DESPITE blockbuster Hollywood superhero movie Black Panther making a killing in the worldwide box office, where it racked up more than a billion US dollars, Zimbabwean actress Danai Gurira earned just $3 million for her stellar role in one of the highest grossing films of all time.
Gurira was a stand-out performer as Okoye in the blockbuster which was released in February, giving a good account of herself as the leader of an all-women army in the technologically advanced fictional state of Wakanda.
While $3 million might seem astronomical by Zimbabwean film standards, it is not so in Hollywood particularly for actors in a Marvel Comics movie. Marvel Comics are the producers of other comic book-based movies like Iron Man, Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America and The Avengers.
To show the disparity in the money earned by Black Panther’s all-black cast compared to their counterparts in The Avengers movie franchise, Robert Downey Jnr, who plays Iron Man, reportedly earned $49 million more than Chadwick Boseman who earned $16 million for his role in what is now the highest grossing movie of all time.
Oscar award-winning actress and Gurira’s friend Lupita Nyong’o earned $7,2 million for her role in Black Panther. The actors pay in the movie, which cost $200 million to make, has again raised the ire of those who believe that black actors in Hollywood (America) are undervalued and underpaid. However, the movie is expected to give its stars leverage when it comes to negotiating for future roles.
“People of colour concede (in negotiations) quicker because they infrequently get golden opportunities,” attorney Darell Miller, who represents stars like Angela Bassett, told THR.
“The issue goes to the lack of diversity in the content being made. When there’s more, that shifts the ability to have real leverage for people who are fortunate enough to be there the one year they’re making Black Panther.”
Online Reporter