VIDEO : How Black Panther Is Poised to Impact Hollywood

PITTSBURGH ? When the Marvel superhero movie ?Black Panther? opens this Friday, there will be an African drum ensemble greeting patrons as they enter the SouthSide Works Cinema theater and a post-screening Afro-futurism-themed party at the Ace Hotel. Around the country, it has sparked lectures and academic panel discussions sponsored by universities and churches, and even the AARP is getting in on the ?Black Panther? action by scheduling screenings in major cities. Far and wide, African-Americans are treating ?Black Panther? as both holiday and policy proposal, setting it up to affect Hollywood and African-American culture in a way that goes beyond box-office returns.