MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company has extended its relationship with Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, sealing a five-year television deal with his Proximity Media. Coogler, who is currently working on the Black Panther feature sequel, will now develop new TV series for the studio. The first offering is a drama based in the Kingdom of Wakanda for Disney+. The deal also enables Proximity to develop television for other divisions of the company.
“Ryan Coogler is a singular storyteller whose vision and range have made him one of the standout filmmakers of his generation,” said The Walt Disney Company executive chairman Bob Iger. “With Black Panther, Ryan brought a groundbreaking story and iconic characters to life in a real, meaningful and memorable way, creating a watershed cultural moment. We’re thrilled to strengthen our relationship and look forward to telling more great stories with Ryan and his team.”
Coogler told Deadline, “It’s an honour to be partnering with The Walt Disney Company. Working with them on Black Panther was a dream come true. As avid consumers of television, we couldn’t be happier to be launching our television business with Bob Iger, Dana Walden and all the amazing studios under the Disney umbrella. We look forward to learning, growing, and building a relationship with audiences all over the world through the Disney platforms. We are especially excited that we will be taking our first leap with Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso and their partners at Marvel Studios where we will be working closely with them on select MCU shows for Disney+. We’re already in the mix on some projects that we can’t wait to share.”
Known for his other acclaimed films like Creed and Fruitvale Station, Coogler delivered a whopping $1.3 billion worldwide hit with Black Panther, which also went on to become the first MCU film to win multiple Oscars. He founded Proximity Studios with Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Ludwig Göransson, Archie Davis and Peter Nicks with a mission to create event-driven feature films, television, soundtracks and podcasts based on stories involving often-overlooked subject matter.
