Black Panther production designer Hannah Beachler revealed the shocking amount of time and money she put into landing the job and creating the film's bible, which will be used for the sequel.
Beachler and director Ryan Coogler spoke to IndieWire about their history of working together, from Fruitvale Station to building Wakanda for the big screen. While Coogler always wanted to bring aboard his own team for the Marvel movie, including Beachler, the film's budget threw that into question.
“For [Marvel], it was [that] production design is a very expensive department, and that specific department can get pretty crazy,” Coogler said. “They tend to like experienced hands there; but they said, ‘Let’s meet with her and we’ll go from there.’”
"It was that feeling in your chest where you know this is that chance that comes once in a lifetime,” said Beachler about getting the chance to pitch her vision to Marvel Studios. She then spent two weeks and $12,000 of her own money designing a 400-book to accompany her pitch, laying the groundwork for the look of Wakanda and its people.
“She set up a whole room of images that she had pulled. That was the first time I can remember feeling like I was in Wakanda,” Coogler said. “We felt like we had to build a fictional history for the place. For us to say what the castle looked like. For us to say what the vehicles looked like, or what the streets looked like. So that was Hannah’s version of that work. It was creating a history for the place.”
Beachler's work and attention to detail secured her the job, with a reported $30 million budget for the art department. The pitch book also evolved into the production bible that would help the team bring Wakanda to life. And Coogler will once again turn to Beachler's bible for Black Panther 2, which he'll write as well as direct.
“It was a big reference point for us to come back to for when you have questions,” Coogler said. “It was the thing that everybody had, because visual effects, and costumes, and stunts, everybody needed it so that we could ask her questions, like when it came to casting, or when it came to building a set, or figuring out stunts or figuring out clothing.”
Along with presumably returning for Black Panther 2, Beachler is currently working on something for Netflix through Carri Twigg’s Culture House Media that she is hoping to helm, marking her debut as a director.
Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther 2 arrives in theaters July 8, 2022.
Source: IndieWire (via The Direct)