Tracy Oliver explains why producing the microbudget horror-comedy 'The Blackening' was the most inspiring project of her career.
is best-known as the co-writer of “Girls Trip” and the creator of “Harlem” and “First Wives Club,” but she’s also quite proficient with numbers. And in terms of the success of her latest film, “The Blackening,” the numbers tell an important tale.
The film made $17.7 million at the domestic box office, nearly six times what it cost to produce. Then, after 10 weeks in U.S. theaters, audiences found the movie on VOD, with superstars like LeBron James and Kid Cudi sharing rave reviews with millions more followers. In August, the film was released in U.K. and Ireland cinemas, bringing the worldwide box office total over $18 million. On Oct. 4, it began streaming on Starz.
When that’s the attitude around a movie with established stars like Queen Latifah, Regina Hall and Jada Pinkett Smith and an annual cultural experience like Essence Fest behind it, it was hard to predict “The Blackening’s” future. In fact, Oliver and Perkins intentionally avoided using racism as the villain’s motive. “That would have been the easiest, most obvious thing to do — that the white person just hates Black people and that’s the movie,” she explains. “[We decided to] let the villain play into the theme — who’s Black and who’s not — versus the easier way. I didn’t want to do something that was going to vilify anybody.
“At the age he would have been when people made fun of him, that would’ve been the worst thing in the world to not be able to dance and all the tropes of what’s deemed Black enough,” Oliver explains. “In a lot of ways, we understood where Clifton was coming from, but he’s an example of when it’s taken too far. It can spiral if you take that stuff to heart.”
The actors’ gamble paid off. “Half of the cast have never had a movie play in theaters, so they’re like, “Oh my God, this little movie that I made no money when I was doing, is now in theaters. Thank you,” Oliver says, beaming with pride.
That tenacity has made them some of the most in-demand and acclaimed creators working in the business. But, making “The Blackening” has further shifted Oliver’s perspective on the industry and how she moves within it. It was a totally different story with “The Blackening,” where filmmakers began pre-production three weeks after the screenplay was finished.
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