via Chadwick Boseman Instagram
All hail the ‘Black Panther‘..all hail Wakanda!
The final numbers are in after the extended holiday weekend, and as expected ‘Black Panther’ is the no. 1 movie in the world, and has shattered all initial expectations and broken some major records. via Vanity Fair:
Early numbers indicated that Black Panther would make between $100 million and $120 million in its opening weekend. As hype and wild pre-sale ticket numbers grew, though, that humble number got nudged higher and higher—all the way to $170 million a few days before the film finally hit theaters. Now, after the complete four-day weekend, the real numbers are here, and they’re even more astronomical than prognosticators hoped: Black Panther has made about $235 million domestically and $404 million worldwide, shattering box-office records.
The Vibranium-powered movie had the fifth-highest opening for a film ever, a record it hit within its first three days by notching a smooth $201.7 million. It’s the third-highest gross in history for a four-day opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo. It’s also the highest opening of all time for a film in February, as well as a film released over President’s Day weekend, handily crushing the $152 million record previously set by Deadpool. Black Panther has the second-highest haul for a Sunday, according to Variety, pulling in a cool $60 million, and it’s also etched its way into Marvel history by earning $25.2 million in Thursday night previews, making it the second-highest preview gross in the studio’s history; the film was narrowly beat out by Avengers: Age of Ultron, which earned $27.6 million. Black Panther has the second-highest three-day domestic opening haul for a Marvel film overall, edged out by the first Avengers film, which made $207.4 million.
As some on Twitter have pointed out, Marvel’s latest has also easily outpaced one of DC’s most recent releases. In just four days, Black Panther earned more than Justice League did during its entire domestic run, which was about $228.6 million.
Alas, Justice League won’t be the only superhero movie to get walloped by the fine folks of Wakanda. Black Panther has at least a few more weeks to continue its uncontested box-office reign—there’s virtually no blockbuster competition in February. And with word of mouth and reviews being as strong as they are, T’Challa and the gang should expect to see the numbers continue to soar as the weeks go by.
