Although Ava DuVernay‘s A Wrinkle in Time beat out Black Panther at the Friday box office, bringing in $10.3 million to BP‘s 10, it looks like the King of Wakanda will be ruling for another week. According to Deadline, Black Panther holds the #1 spot with $41M, while Wrinkle is coming in at $32.7M.
The news, either way, is fantastic for Disney, the distributor of both pictures. Coming in ahead of every studio last year with billions in profits, Disney is well on its way to another landmark year, especially with Solo: A Star Wars Story, Avengers: Infinity War, and Incredibles 2 still on its docket. With the Disney-Fox merger still underway, there’s no telling how much these figures will rise.
Although DuVernay’s A Wrinkle in Time is not pulling in the same behemoth numbers as Black Panther, it is one of the most successful live-action family adaptations, with its closest competitor being Percy Jackson and the Olympians at $31.2M in its first weekend. The film is scoring well with teens 13-17 chiming in at 89% positive score. The adults 25+ have less glorious things to say about the movie, but DuVernay insists that this film was made for children.
Regardless of the critical reception or comparisons to Black Panther, the important thing to note is the great strides both of these films are making in representation for persons of color and gender diversity, paving the way for a variety of filmmakers and creatives to get more of these stories made in the future.