The Woman King

For other uses, see Woman king (disambiguation).

The Woman King
Theatrical release poster
Directed byGina Prince-Bythewood
Screenplay byDana Stevens
Story by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyPolly Morgan
Edited byTerilyn A. Shropshire
Music byTerence Blanchard
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release dates
  • September 9, 2022 (2022-09-09) (TIFF)
  • September 16, 2022 (2022-09-16) (United States)
Running time
135 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million[2]
Box office$97.6 million[3][4]

The Woman King is a 2022 American historical action-adventure film about the Agojie, the all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Set in the 1820s, the film stars Viola Davis as a general who trains the next generation of warriors to fight their enemies. It is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens, based on a story she wrote with Maria Bello. The film also stars Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and John Boyega.

Bello conceived the idea for The Woman King in 2015 after visiting Benin, where the kingdom used to be located, and learning the history of the Agojie. She recruited Cathy Schulman to develop it into a feature film, pitching it to several studios, who turned it down due to financial concerns. After they met with TriStar Pictures in 2017, the film was greenlit in 2020. Production began in South Africa in November 2021, shut down due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant a few weeks later, and resumed in early 2022. Polly Morgan was the cinematographer. During post-production, the musical score was composed by Terence Blanchard, and the editing was completed by Terilyn A. Shropshire.

The Woman King had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 9, 2022, and Sony Pictures Releasing released the film in theaters in the United States on September 16, 2022. Following the festival screening, the film received generally positive reviews from critics,[5][6] with praise directed towards Davis's performance and the action choreography. However, it underperformed at the box office, especially outside of America, and received criticism for historical distortion of slavery.[7] At the 28th Critics' Choice Awards the film received nominations for Best Costume Design, Best Acting Ensemble, Best Director, and Best Actress for Davis. Furthermore, Davis also earned Best Actress nominations at the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, BAFTA Film Awards, and NAACP Image Awards.

It was the last film to be distributed by Entertainment One in Canada before the distributor's Canadian division was shut down on June 29, 2022, along with its Spanish distribution shortly before its release.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Deadline Hollywood was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference THRInterview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference NUM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference BOM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "'The Woman King' has an almost 100 per cent approval rating. Why?". Australian Financial Review. November 3, 2022. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  6. ^ "The Woman King reviews | movie reviews". showtimes.com. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  7. ^ Campbell, Christopher (September 10, 2022). "The Woman King First Reviews: Viola Davis Rules the Screen in a Rousing, Action-Packed Crowd-Pleaser". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved September 10, 2022.