A lavish, headline-grabbing premiere. Lightning word-of-mouth stoked by glowing reviews. Packed movie theatres with sold-out shows, long lines and fans decked out as characters from the film.

The phenomenon of 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� had the look and feel of a classic, bona fide blockbuster in route to its record-setting $201.8 million debut over the weekend, or an estimated $235 million Friday through Monday. Much has been made about the film industry鈥檚 struggles to tap into pop culture the way it once more regularly did 鈥� that TV and streaming options and a dearth of fresh ideas have diminished the power of the big screen.

But when Hollywood does manufacture a must-see theatrical event, it has increasingly been propelled by the power of inclusivity. Just as Jordan Peele鈥檚 Oscar-nominated 鈥淕et Out鈥� ($253 million worldwide on a $4.5 million production budget) and Patty Jenkins 鈥淲onder Woman鈥� ($821.1 million) did before it, 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� captured the zeitgeist by the potent combination of top-notch filmmaking (the film stands at 97 per cent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), studio backing and an audience hungry to see itself represented on the big screen in a way it seldom has before.

At the box office, inclusion is paying 鈥� and often, it鈥檚 paying off big time.

鈥淒iversity does in fact, sell,鈥� said Darnell Hunt, a professor and director of social science at UCLA whose research has detailed the connection between diversity and bottom lines. 鈥淚n hindsight, it鈥檚 kind of a no-brainer. The American public is about 40 per cent people of colour now, and we know that people of colour over-index in terms of media consumption. The patterns we鈥檝e been seeing are only becoming more pronounced as time goes on.鈥�

鈥淏lack Panther鈥� debuted with $361 million in worldwide ticket sales, setting up the $200 million film for a theatrical run that should easily eclipse $1 billion. History is assured. Just months after Jenkins helmed the biggest box-office hit directed by a woman, Ryan Coogler will set a new mark for films directed by an African American. The debut, the best ever for February, is the fifth highest of all time, not accounting for inflation.

At a time where hits are hard to come by for Hollywood, diversity in storytelling is proving to be not only a just cause, but a box-office imperative.

鈥淚f you want to succeed on the global stage, certainly in the tent-pole business, you have to have diversity in storytelling, in the characters that you put in front of the camera, in the artisans you put behind the camera 鈥� to be able to get that better, richer storytelling and to drive huge results,鈥� said Dave Hollis, distribution chief for Disney. 鈥淭he results speak for themselves.鈥�

Hollis pointed to the many factors that made 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� a hit: Coogler鈥檚 direction, the stewardship of Kevin Feige鈥檚 Marvel, the reliability of the brand. But he also noted a developing pattern for Disney 鈥� that inclusive films are both richer for their diversity and, often, richer for the bottom line.

鈥淚t feels like the right thing to do. It makes for better, richer storytelling, and we鈥檙e a business. It鈥檚 something that鈥檚 just delivered big, huge box office,鈥� said Hollis. 鈥淲hen we have leaned into and had inclusion and representation as part of the mix, it鈥檚 just really worked. When you think about 鈥楽tar Wars鈥� and 鈥楻ogue One,鈥� the female protagonist leading those stories. Also 鈥楳oana鈥� or 鈥楥oco.鈥� 鈥楥oco鈥� has been an absolute juggernaut.鈥�

鈥淐oco,鈥� which is expected to win the Oscar for best animated feature next month, has gross more than $730 million worldwide. It鈥檚 the biggest budget release starring an all-Latino cast.

Rian Johnson鈥檚 鈥淪tar Wars: The Last Jedi,鈥� which has grossed $1.3 billion worldwide, did more than any previous 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� film to elevate its female characters, and featured the widely hailed breakout star Kelly Marie Tran.

By promoting diversity in its films, Disney has faced some backlash from social-media critics who deride films like 鈥淭he Last Jedi鈥� and Sony鈥檚 2015鈥檚 female-led 鈥淕hostbusters鈥� as politically correct overreach. Some fans have even gone to the extraordinary length of trying to drive down audience scores for those films.

But consider the fate of movies that haven鈥檛 tried as hard to be culturally authentic. Paramount鈥檚 鈥淕host in the Shell,鈥� which starred Scarlett Johansson in a role originally written as a cyborg in a Japanese woman鈥檚 body, last year bombed at the box office after a backlash over Johansson鈥檚 casting.

Meanwhile, the diverse cast of Universal鈥檚 鈥淭he Fast and the Furious鈥� films helped make it one of the most bankable franchises in movies. Other standout hits have included 鈥淕irls Trip鈥� 鈥� the biggest comedy of 2017 鈥� and Sony鈥檚 unexpectedly lucrative 鈥淛umanji: Welcome to the Jungle.鈥� The film, starring Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, reigned over the January box office as the no. 1 film on four weekends.

鈥淛umanji鈥� has grossed more than $904 million worldwide, including more than a half a billion dollars overseas. The old argument that films starring African-American actors don鈥檛 travel well has never had a worse two months. 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� opened with $160 million abroad, even without several markets (China, Japan, Russia) yet open.

And in Hollywood, nothing talks like money.

鈥溾�楤lack Panther鈥� can be an important first step toward really dispelling the myth that has held Hollywood back for generations in terms of telling the stories that we certainly want to see in this country but I think that the rest of the world wants to see, too,鈥� said Hunt.

Studies have also shown that diverse casts attract wider audiences. Last year, talent agency CAA found that of the top 10 grossing films in 2016, 47 per cent of the opening-weekend audience was made up of people of colour, up 2 per cent from the year before. The effect was even more pronounced in the biggest hits. Seven of the 10 highest-grossing films from 2016 had opening weekend audiences more than 50 per cent white.

The audience for 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� was 65 per cent non-white, including 37 per cent black, according to comScore.

Latinos and African Americans are also more eager moviegoers, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. In the MPAA鈥檚 most recent report, it found that though Latinos make up 18 per cent of the U.S. population, they account for 23 per cent of frequent moviegoers. Though African Americans are 12 per cent of the population, they make up 15 per cent of frequent moviegoers.

鈥淚f you look at some of the bigger blockbusters from the last year, they were representative of what the audience are looking for, how they鈥檙e feeling,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. 鈥淭hese films reflect society and then society reflects back on the films. That鈥檚 when you get to these much bigger than expected debuts. It becomes more than a movie. It becomes a cultural event.鈥�

Communal movie-going may be under siege from other entertainment options. But films like 鈥淏lack Panther鈥� are making movie theatres more communal than ever.

Jake Coyle, The Associated Press

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