There's good news for the box office on the horizon as the first forecast for Disney and Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in. Ryan Coogler's feverishly-awaited follow-up to 2018's Black Panther looks set to net a minimum of $175 million over its opening weekend in North America, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That would be good enough for the second-best opening of 2022 after Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opened to $187.4 million.
Black Panther grossed $202 million domestically in its opening weekend in February 2018, becoming not just a cultural milestone for its predominantly Black cast, but also a pop culture phenomenon with the iconic "Wakanda Forever" catchphrase transcending the films themselves. The film went on to gross more than $1.34 billion at the worldwide box office, breaking numerous records in the process. It currently holds the record for the highest-grossing film by a Black filmmaker, the third-highest-grossing film in domestic history, and the ninth-highest-grossing film of all time, worldwide.
The worldwide box office is still finding its feet in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, although superhero movies have generally done well since theaters reopened. Comparisons will most likely be made with Spider-Man: No Way Home — a joint Sony/Disney production — which opened to $260.1 million in December 2021, a number that was only beaten by Disney and Marvel's own Avengers: Endgame ($357.1 million). That film went on to, briefly, claim the title of the highest-grossing film of all time from Avatar before James Cameron's epic was re-released in anticipation of this December's sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.
The year's highest-grossing films are currently Top Gun: Maverick, which has given Tom Cruise the biggest film of his career to date, and Jurassic Park Dominion ($1.001 billion). Maverick, still playing in some theaters, has proved a stunning success that was surely unexpected to this degree. With a domestic gross of over $715 million — good enough for the fifth-highest-grossing domestic film in history — it is nearing $1.5 billion.
Wakanda Forever's journey to the big screen has been marked with disruption and tragedy. The original film's eponymous hero and star, Chadwick Boseman, died in August 2020 after a battle with colon cancer. In the wake of his passing, Marvel confirmed the role of T'Challa, the King of Wakanda, would not be recast but that the story would move on without him. Prior to his death, filming was due to begin in March 2021 before shifting to June of the same year.
The original release date of May 6, 2022, was moved to July 8, 2022, following Boseman's death. The release date once again shifted after filming was stopped, following an accident that saw star Letitia Wright (Shuri) suffer a concussion and fractured shoulder. Filming was further delayed due to an outbreak of COVID-19 within the cast and crew in January, before finally wrapping on March 24, 2022.
The sequel retains cast members from the first film, including Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Angela Bassett, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Florence Kasumba, and Martin Freeman, while Dominique Thorne joins the cast as Riri Williams, who will soon have her own Disney+ series in Ironheart. Tenoch Huerta has also signed on as Namor, the king of Talokan, an ancient civilization of underwater dwelling people, and the film's antagonist.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opens in theaters on November 11. You can catch the trailer for the return to Wakanda down below: