Ryan Coogler has officially signed on to direct and write the reported Black Panther sequel. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Coogler has already begun thinking about the script well ahead of Marvel's official press release. While some personnel changes will be implemented due to scheduling conflicts, Marvel has gone to great lengths to keep the creative team intact for the second Black Panther film.
The first of two films directed by Coogler raked in a whopping $700 million domestically, $1.3 billion in total, and is almost assured of a place in the yearly "Oscar conversation." As Hollywood Reporter indicated, filmmakers are often drawn into contract negotiations as soon as a film is deemed lucrative, but in the case of Coogler and his creative staff, waited until they were met with ideal terms. The plan is for Coogler to commence writing the script early next year, so they can start the production later in '19, early 2020 at the latest.
While Marvel or Disney to comment on the terms of their agreement, images from the Black Panther series have appeared in montages for the 2019 Avengers' film venture. Coogler will have to exercise incredibly tight time management skills in order to pull off Marvel's itinerary. Aside from the Black Panther sequel, Ryan will also be executive-producing the Space Jam sequel starring LeBron James.
