Ryan Coogler Almost Quit Directing After Chadwick Boseman’s Death!

BlackAmericaWeb.com, By Samir Hussein, Posted October 14th 2022

Chadwick Boseman’s death hit a lot of fans hard, especially Ryan Coogler.

Coogler recently spoke with Entertainment Weekly about what life was like after Boseman passed away from colon cancer in 2016. He felt his death so much that he almost quit Hollywood.

“I was at a point when I was like, ‘I’m walking away from this business,’” Coogler told Entertainment Weekly in an interview. “I didn’t know if I could make another movie period, [let alone] another Black Panther movie, because it hurt a lot. I was like, ‘Man, how could I open myself up to feeling like this again?’”

Following his untimely passing, Coogler remembered a lot of the interactions he had with Boseman towards the end and decided that he needed to continue on in his career.

“I was poring over a lot of our conversations that we had, towards what I realized was the end of his life,” Coogler added. “I decided that it made more sense to keep going.”

But in mourning Boseman, a new challenge arose in the growing Black Panther franchise. What would they make of T’Challa’s character now? The screenwriter and director knew that in order for the film to progress, he had to truly believe in the project’s potential and new trajectory.

“It’s my job as a filmmaker to do things that I have personal integrity with,” Coogler said. “If I don’t believe in what I’m doing, I’m going to have a hard time getting other people to do their best work. For them to do their best work, they have to believe in it. At the end of the day, the choices we make have to feel truthful to me. When filmmakers make things that don’t feel truthful to them, you can feel it. And I will argue that those projects don’t have a shot at working.”

Fans will finally have a chance to see the latest Coogler production Black Panther: Wakanda Forever come Nov. 11.