Middle school delights students with Black Panther tickets

Black Panther is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated blockbuster films of all-time.

And thanks to the administration at Atlanta’s Ron Clark Academy, its 120 students will now be able to take a school-wide trip to the cinema to see the Marvel film.

The school uploaded a video of its students celebrating the news with the caption: ‘That moment when the whole school finds out they’re going to see Marvel’s new movie, Black Panther!’

Students will also receive a day of lessons about African culture to accompany their viewing of the film. Video of their celebratory reaction to the news has gone viral with more than 5million views 

The video has received 5.4million views since it was posted to the school’s Facebook page on Friday, February 2.

It shows the students dancing and chanting as they react to receiving tickets to the film, which debuts in North America on February 16.

The students’ viewing of the film will be accompanied by a day of lessons about African culture, the school noted on Facebook.

‘For [our students] to be able to see a movie where there is an all African-American cast, especially a blockbuster, it doesn’t happen often,’ Principal Ron Clark told Inside Edition. ‘I think it’s really important for kids to see themselves represented.’

Art teacher Susan Barnes told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: ‘The beauty of African traditions are woven into a sci-fi film with tremendous opportunities to have discussions about culture and identity.’ 

Ron Clark Academy, per its website, is a nonprofit middle school serving 5th – 8th grade students from ‘various socio-economic and academic backgrounds and communities’ across the Atlanta metropolitan area and educating them ‘with academic rigor, passion and creativity balanced by a strict code of discipline’. The school has 120 total students.

The Marvel superhero film stars Chadwick Boseman (left) as T’Challa/Black Panther and Michael B Jordan (right) as Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens

‘For [our students] to be able to see a movie where there is an all African-American cast, especially a blockbuster, it doesn’t happen often,’ Principal Ron Clark told Inside Edition . ‘I think it’s really important for kids to see themselves represented.’ Pictured at left and right: Chadwick Boseman, respectively in character and on the red carpet

The school’s decision to offer its students tickets to the film comes amid the Black Panther Challenge inaugurated by Frederick Joseph, who started a GoFundMe for children at the Boy’s and Girl’s Club in Harlem, New York to see the film.

He quickly far exceeded his goal and asked others to find it in their hearts to help children who otherwise might not be able to afford tickets to see the film.

Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o also stars in the film as Nakia

Since his call, more than 100 such funds have been set up across the country.

Octavia Spencer, of Hidden Figures and The Shape of Water fame, said she would buy out a theater in Mississippi, for example.

‘I think I will buy out a theatre in an underserved community there to ensure that all our brown children can see themselves as a superhero. I will let you know where and when Mississippi,’ she wrote in an Instagram post.

Joseph, who started the trend, even appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres show with Chadwick Boseman, the film’s star.

Black Panther, with an estimated budget of $150million, debuts in North America on February 16 and stars Boseman as the titular Black Panther/T’Challa, Michael B Jordan as Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens and Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia.

Other stars in the film include Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Daniel Kaluuya of Get Out fame and Andy Serkis.

Boseman was introduced into the Marvel Universe as T’Challa/Black Panther in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War.

The new Marvel film details T’Challa’s return to the throne of the fictional African nation of Wakanda following the events of Captain America. Conflict arises when other forces seek to challenge his power.

The film is being hailed as a major event for being Marvel’s first film with a predominantly black cast, one of the first blockbuster films with a predominantly black cast and its all-star cast, including the Academy Award-winning Nyong’o and Whitaker and the nominated Bassett and Kaluuya.

Two weeks ahead of its release, Black Panther is outselling all previous superhero films in advance ticket sales and is forecast to earn as much as $400million – though that figure could go much higher.

Reviews are embargoed until February 6 but social media reaction since its January 29 debut has been enormously positive.  

Pictured is a general view of Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia