Only three weeks since it was released, and “The American Society of Magical Negroes” has already been pulled from theaters. Yikes.This audaciously titled satire already had a weird trailer before premiering at Sundance to terrible reviews — 28% on Rotten Tomatoes. Maybe audiences were too hesitant to walk up to the box office and request tickets to this film?
Hi. Two tickets, please."
"Which movie?"
"Umm..."
Maybe it was the lack of stars, the cast, composed of Justice Smith, David Alan Grier, An-Li Bogan, with Rupert Friend, does not spell box-office success. Regardless, I can’t seem to find a budget for this one, but, while researching the film, I was told last night that it could have cost Searchlight anywhere between $15-20 million to produce ‘Magical Negroes.’
This was the directorial debut of filmmaker Kobi Libii. “The American Society of Magical Negroes” tackled a young man, Aren, recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to making white people’s lives easier.” The film parodied the “magical negro” movie trope for which films such as “The Green Mile” and “Green Book” were previously accused of using.