If Justice League star Ray Fisher’s comments urging fans to see Black Panther are proof that the DC vs Marvel rivalry only exists in the fandoms, director Rick Famuyiwa’s latest social media post says otherwise. The former helmer of The Flash movie, now titled Flashpoint, taunts Warner Bros. by showing off the Marvel project’s impressive box office performance after Justice League struggled last year with a final haul of just $645+ million.
Sales numbers for Black Panther continue to climb since it hit theaters Thursday night. Pocketing a whopping $201.8 million at the domestic box office in its first three days, the Ryan Coogler-directed movie is expected to earn as much as $243 million after the four-day weekend, making it the second-best all-time just behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s also doing well internationally, already becoming the biggest opening day earner in the UK this year. Critically, the Chadwick Boseman-led blockbuster is praised by both critics and the general movie-going audience, landing an A+ CinemaScore.
Rick Famuyiwa’s latest Instagram post regarding Black Panther has people talking as he seemingly pokes fun at Justice League’s underwhelming box office performance by reposting an article saying the Coogler film topped Warner Bros.’ ensemble project’s total domestic haul in just four days. While Famuyiwa has been actively posting about the Marvel flick’s success in the last several days, the main take away from this post is the caption he used: emojis of a frog and a cup of coffee - a nod to the Kermit the Frog “but that’s none of my business” meme. Check out his post below:
Tapped to replace the previous director, Seth Grahame-Smith, Famuyiwa boarded The Flash film in 2016, but after just a few months, he parted ways with Warner Bros. due to creative differences. The break up was deemed amicable, with Famuyiwa’s official statement regarding the matter even wishing the whole team involved nothing but the best of luck. Now, it seems it wasn’t as cordial as previously believed. Back in November, news broke that Warner Bros. was looking to recast Kiersey Clemons who was Famuyiwa’s pick to play Iris West in the film. While it’s possible that it was the actress’ decision to push through with the gig as the director was her main reasons for wanting to work on the project, it’s also possible that this is DC’s decision as they further move away from Famuyiwa’s take on the Scarlet Speedster.
Chances are that we will never know the whole story of why Famuyiwa exited the Ezra Miller-starring film. But by openly mocking Warner Bros, he has just significantly diminished his chances of working with the movie studio. It’s likely safe to say, we won’t see him involved in any project backed by the company, at least not in the near future. Meanwhile, Flashpoint is pushing forward with Spider-Man: Homecoming writers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley set to direct the upcoming DC film.
MORE: Flashpoint Directors Got the Job Thanks to Spider-Man & Game Night
Source: Rick Famuyiwa
