Next Friday, Marvel's Black Panther celebrates one month since its domestic release. This weekend, Ryan Coogler's superhero film should cross the $1 billion-mark at the international box office. That's crazy. If it crosses that mark this weekend, the film will be in great company as one of the fastest billion-dollar earners ever. The worldwide tally will be helped out in a big way by the film's last major international opening date in China today where early estimates point to a $22.7 million frame. Black Panther currently sits at $940.3 million as of last night's ticket sales, so a strong international debut and a solid domestic performance should be enough to bump Marvel's latest superhero movie into the 10-figure club.

If China's box office estimate holds, that'll make Black Panther the third-highest opening day ever for any MCU/super-hero title there, behind only Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War; it's also right around the same mark as Spider-Man: Homecoming. Black Panther just passed that particular film on the international box office level as of yesterday, as well. Even with a 50-60% drop from last week's domestic weekend total, Black Panther could still bring in between $26.5 to $33 million; a similar performance on the international market would net another $23.1 to $28.9 million. Add in China's expected estimate, and the film should easily cross $1 billion this weekend. The only question left is, just how high will it climb?

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For more on Black Panther, check out our recent coverage at the following links:

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Image via Marvel Studios