Marvel Studios film “Black Panther” made Oscars history today, landing the first best picture nomination for a superhero movie, as crowd-pleasing blockbusters muscled into a contest recently dominated by art-house fare.
Other box-office hits among the eight nominees for the movie industry’s top prize included musical remake “A Star is Born” and rock biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
Reports suggests the inclusion of popular films contrasted with the past few years, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, favoured independent dramas with small audiences and snubbed commercial successes such as “Wonder Woman.”
Meantime, “Black Panther” was 2018’s top-grossing movie in the United States and Canada, and second-highest worldwide, with $1.3 billion in ticket sales.
Released by Disney-owned Marvel, it was the first superhero film to feature a predominantly black cast.
The movie was hailed for bringing African pride and beauty to a big-screen adventure. It received seven nominations in total.
