Though the huge milestone definitely calls for celebration, King is well aware of the double standards surrounding her achievement, noting that the film could either "open doors or close doors for more Black female directors."
According to Variety, she said, "Unfortunately, across the world, that's how things seem to work. One woman gets a shot and if she does not succeed, it shuts thing down for years until someone else gets a shot."
King's film, One Night in Miami, is an adaptation of Kemp Powers' 2013 stage play of the same name. It centers on the fictional meeting of Black American icons like Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.) and Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge) in 1964. After Clay's historic win over Sonny Liston, the four men celebrate together at the Hampton House Motel and discuss the civil rights movement.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, King considered postponing the film's release. But because of the Black Lives Matter movement and recent protests, she felt that One Night in Miami, which she called "a love letter to the Black man’s experience in America," would be timely.