Director Boots Riley, whose debut directorial work Sorry to Bother You has been beloved by critics and making money at the box office, says his film is being rejected by international distributors. In a tweet early Saturday, the director points out that race is the main factor, “re: the international distribution of #SorryToBotherYou : Even tho we’r outperforming a gang of other movies, distributors r claiming “Black movies†dont do well internationally and r treating it as such. There’r films that bombed here, that theyr distributing. Let em know wsupâ€
Hollywood has used what they claim is a lack of international interest to justify a reluctance to make movies with black actors for a long time. Of course, it’s 2018 and everyone had hoped the wild success of movies like Hidden Figures, Straight Outta Compton, Moonlight, and Black Panther would change that line of thought. But it looks like it’ll take until at least Black Panther 2 for distributors to catch up to the rest of the world.