Ladies and gentlemen, Black Panther is going to be a beast. Box office projections for the Marvel Studios movie have been going up, up, up over the past few weeks, and the time has finally come. Director Ryan Coogler’s new film scored an estimated $25.2 million in Thursday night showings, which doubles the previous February record of $12.7 million held by Deadpool, which itself went on to gross $132.4 million on its opening weekend. In the legion of Marvel Studios films, this Thursday gross is behind only one movie in the studio’s entire history, Avengers: Age of Ultron ($27.6 million). Yes, that means Black Panther performed better on Thursday than Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man 3, and The Avengers.
Boosted by stellar box office and the frustrating uniqueness of a nearly all-black superhero movie cast, Black Panther is expected to absolutely soar this weekend. How high will it go? The sky seems to be the limit, but the Top 5 Marvel Studios opening weekends thus far are these:
The Avengers - $207,438,708
Avengers: Age of Ultron - $191,271,109
Captain America: Civil War - $179,139,142
Iron Man 3 - $174,144,585
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 - $146,510,104
One could easily see Black Panther surpassing all but the Avengers movies—could it have a shot at breaking the Marvel Studios record entirely? That would be one hell of a feat, but hopes are incredibly high for this one. At the very least it’s going to be the biggest opening weekend for a solo Marvel Studios movie ever. Stay tuned throughout the weekend for our box office updates as the film progresses.
For more on Black Panther, peruse our recent stories in the links below. And for a full rundown of Marvel Studios movies at the box office, click here.
- ‘Black Panther’ Spoiler Review: The Spirit of Wakanda, the Body of Marvel
- ‘Black Panther’ Post-Credits Scenes, Explained
- ‘Black Panther’ Ending Explained: How the Marvel Framework Makes Their Movies Smaller
- Chadwick Boseman on How ‘Black Panther’ Opens up the World of Wakanda