Campaign to send young girls to see Captain Marvel for free raises nearly $61K

A crowdfunding campaign designed to provide free screenings of the upcoming movie Captain Marvel for girls and young women has raised more than three times its original goal. 

The “Send Girls to See Captain Marvel” campaign, launched by the nonprofit organizations Girls Inc. LA and We Have Stories set out to raise $20,000 in order “to help girls from various backgrounds have the opportunity to see the film by providing tickets and renting out theaters.” As of this writing, the campaign has raised $60,825 in one month.  

“Everyone should have an opportunity to see women in roles they can aspire to one day be, roles that show women as strong, smart and bold,” said a message on the campaign’s GoFundMe page. “From a teacher to a fighter pilot—or a superhero. This is an opportunity to continue to empower girls to be just that.”

“Marvel Studios’ first female led film, Captain Marvel offers this type of important representation,” the message added. 

A report from Variety reveals that donors include Ellen DeGeneres’ The Ellen Show and E! News, which each gave $10,000 to the campaign.

We Tell Stories also organized a similar initiative with Black Panther last year, raising more than $1 million and financing free screenings of the Oscar-winning film for 73,000 children. 

Campaigns like these, as well as last year’s Give A Child the Universe initiative designed to get young people to see A Wrinkle in Time for free, speak to an overall broadening of the diversity within genre films, showing that these films are connecting with wider audiences and that more people are seeing the importance of getting young audiences to see them.

Captain Marvel hits theatres on March 8. It's expected to make a lot of money.