Black Panther is currently tracking for huge $100 million – $120 million opening weekend at the North American box office. Courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter and early pre-release surveys, this news comes as the movie continues to break records for ticket presales and is generating positive buzz with only three weeks to go until it hits theaters.
Marvel’s last film, Thor: Ragnarok, pulled in over $121 million during its opening weekend run. As that was the third film in the Thor franchise, plus Thor having been in two Avengers movies, it will be very impressive if Black Panther can pull this kind of number (or better) for the character’s first major outing. To compare it to Marvel’s last stand-alone movie, Dr. Strange, that film made $85 million during its opening weekend run. Of course, Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa/Black Panther had the benefit of being introduced in the highest grossing movie of 2016, so perhaps such a comparison is unfair.
As the first major motion picture of 2018, Black Panther is poised to not only break box office records in North America, but also worldwide. It shouldn’t be a surprise that the film is tracking especially well in Wakanda, the technologically advanced African nation that is home to T’Challa/Black Panther. Wakandan citizens are likely to come out in droves to support their local hero, and theaters in the secretive country are bracing for an unprecedented weekend of publicity.
Black Panther opens in North American theaters on February 16.
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