And back in the United States, the film “Black Panther” smashed box office records on its opening weekend, grossing more money than any other February debut. It was also the highest-grossing film ever by a black director, 31-year-old Ryan Coogler. It was also the fifth-highest-earning opening weekend of any film in U.S. history. The superhero flick, based on the Marvel comic, features a majority-black cast and has been called a “defining moment for Black America.” It’s also renewed calls for the release of more than a dozen imprisoned members of the real Black Panther Party. Thousands of people have signed on to a petition calling on Disney to invest 25 percent of the film’s worldwide profits in education programs in black communities.