Director Ryan Coogler Won’t Move Black Panther 2 Production Out of Georgia, But Slams New Election Law in Op-Ed

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

Black Panther 2 director Ryan Coogler slammed Georgia’s new election law in an op-ed for Deadline, but confirmed that he will not move production of the Marvel sequel out of the state because of the harm to local vendors and businesses.

Earlier this month, Major League Baseball announced that they were moving the All-Star Game out of Atlanta in response to the newly-passed law. Actor Will Smith and director Antoine Fuqua also issued a joint statement saying that their upcoming Apple TV+ movie Emancipation would not film as planned in Georgia that they “cannot in good conscience provide economic support to a government that enacts regressive voting laws that are designed to restrict voter access.”

Coogler took another view, writing that while he was “profoundly disappointed” in the new law, he wanted to take the time to learn the issues before making a decision about the film, and had decided, “[o]ur film is staying in Georgia.”

“Having now spoken with voting rights activists in the state,” wrote Coogler, “I have come to understand that many of the people employed by my film, including all the local vendors and businesses we engage, are the very same people who will bear the brunt of SB202. For those reasons, I will not be engaging in a boycott of Georgia. What I will be doing is using my voice to emphasize the effects of SB202, its shameful roots in Jim Crow, and doing all I can to support organizations fighting voter suppression here in the state.”

Coogler’s actions follow the advice from former Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Stacey Abrams. “I do not believe that a boycott at this moment is beneficial to the victims of these bills,” she told the Associated Press last week. “I do believe it is absolutely necessary for corporations to show their goodwill. They have to publicly denounce these bills, they have to support and invest in voting rights expansion, and they need to support the federal voting rights standards.”

The original 2018 Black Panther film made over $1.3 billion at the box office and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Plans for the sequel changed after the lead actor Chadwick Boseman died in 2020 from colon cancer, and the decision was made not to recast his role. Film production is set to begin this summer in Atlanta, with additional shoots in Australia. The film is scheduled for release in 2022.

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