Mary is a hit woman working for an organized crime family in Boston, whose life is completely turned around when she meets a young boy whose path she crosses when a professional hit goes bad.

Taraji P Henson seems to be the only one who cares about Proud Mary

Since the movies first trailer I have been excited for Proud Mary. We all have known about the film for some time now. The movie premiere is just a week away, hitting theaters January 12, 2018. Yet it seems like Taraji P. Henson is the only one who cares about promoting the film. Time and time again studios continue to fail us when it comes to marketing films with POC running the helm. Sony has invested so little in promoting the film, and it all boils down to the fact that studios do not expect films with POC to succeed.Get Out and Girls Trip proved that assumption to be false. Films that represent POC get flagged as “risky” and major marketing dollars are invested in films that are considered easier to sell.

Consistent Marketing for the film didn’t start until recently. I hadn’t seen much promotion on social media until last week. The film’s Instagram page is just at a mere 3K followers with only 27 posts since the first post in July 2017. The film has no advanced ticket sells or press screenings scheduled in various states. Most ads for the movie that have been seen in cities such as New York, D.C, and Chicago, don’t even have the movies premiere date on them. Only stating “coming soon”, and the movie comes out IN A WEEK.

Proud Mary, stars Taraji P. Henson as Mary, a successful hit-woman working for an organized crime family in Boston, Massachusetts. Her life is completely shifted when she meets a young boy whose path she crosses when a professional hit goes wrong and she leaves the boy orphaned. Taraji has a statement of her own to make regarding the film’s lack of international promotion.

“[Studios} never expect [black films] to do well overseas,” she says. “meanwhile, you go overseas and what do you see? people trying to look like African- Americans with Afros and dressing in hip hop fashions. To say black culture doesn’t sell well overseas, that’s a lie. Somebody just doesn’t want to do their job and promote the film overseas. do you not have people streaming my Christmas specials in Australia? come on, y’all! I don’t understand the thinking. send me over there, and if it fails, then we don’t do it again, but why not try? If I knew this movie was gonna make money domestically, I would try to get more money overseas. It’s business!”

-Taraji P. Henson, Hollywood Reporter

Taraji seems to be the only one who is really marketing the film, posting consistently on Instagram and Twitter about the film; getting the word out. The only known media appearances she has are on January 8th on Good Morning America and The Tonight Show. Proud Mary hit’s theaters this Friday January 12th. We need more Black women leading on the big screen kicking ass and taking names. Please go out and support the movie!