--- description: Sorry, Selma fans title: Ava DuVernay Confirms She Won't Direct 'Black Panther' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6eb0af9a4b5af516/6988599cf887dce06be9139f/ava-duvernay.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Ava DuVernay Confirms She Won't Direct _Black Panther_  by [Dan Stewart](/author/dan-stewart/)  ## Dan Stewart Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 4, 2015 2:11 PM CUT  Ava DuVernay arrives at the 2015 Sundance Institute Celebration Benefit held at 3LABS on June 2, 2015 in Culver City, Calif. Ava DuVernay arrives at the 2015 Sundance Institute Celebration Benefit held at 3LABS on June 2, 2015 in Culver City, Calif.Michael Tran—Getty Images  by [Dan Stewart](/author/dan-stewart/)  ## Dan Stewart Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 4, 2015 2:11 PM CUT The first major black superhero movie [won’t be directed](http://www.essence.com/2015/07/03/exclusive-ava-duvernay-not-directing-black-panther-movie "undefined") by the most prominent African American female director in Hollywood. _Selma_ director Ava DuVernay told Essence she considered directing Marvel’s _Black Panther_ movie, but ultimately decided the project wasn’t for her. “I think I’ll just say we had different ideas about what the story would be,” she told the magazine at the Essence Festival in New Orleans. “I love that they reached out to me.” Black Panther will star Chadwick Boseman as the titular superhero and is due for release in July 2018. [Read the entire story at Essence.com](http://www.essence.com/2015/07/03/exclusive-ava-duvernay-not-directing-black-panther-movie "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3945776/ava-duvernay-black-panther-selma/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3945776/ava-duvernay-black-panther-selma/"},"headline":"Ava DuVernay Confirms She Won't Direct Black Panther","datePublished":"2015-07-04T14:11:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T08:57:49.729Z","description":"Sorry, Selma fans","url":"https://time.com/3945776/ava-duvernay-black-panther-selma/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6eb0af9a4b5af516/6988599cf887dce06be9139f/ava-duvernay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Stewart","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-stewart/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6eb0af9a4b5af516/6988599cf887dce06be9139f/ava-duvernay.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2015 Sundance Institute Celebration Benefit Ava DuVernay","caption":"2015 Sundance Institute Celebration Benefit Ava DuVernay","creditText":"Michael Tran—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3945776/ava-duvernay-black-panther-selma/","name":"Ava DuVernay Confirms She Won't Direct Black Panther"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The 10 Greatest Movies of the Millennium (Thus Far)","description":"TIME movie critic, Richard Corliss lists his top films of the millennium (Thus Far). For the full, list go to time.com/entertainment","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/S3M25t5U/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2012-05-17T00:06:49.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/S3M25t5U.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3945776/ava-duvernay-black-panther-selma/","duration":"PT4M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3945776/ava-duvernay-black-panther-selma/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```