Disney and Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has topped the half-billion mark at the global box office in just over a week of release. With $288 million domestically and another $258 million from international territories, Wakanda Forever’s global haul stands at an excellent $546 million.
The film made an estimated $67.3 million in its second weekend domestically, and added around $69 million from 50 international markets this weekend. Wakanda Forever is currently the seventh-biggest movie of the year worldwide, and is expected to eventually top both previous Marvel Cinematic Universe releases of the year — Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($955 million) and Thor: Love and Thunder ($760 million). The film's top-performing international territories are the UK ($27.1 million), Mexico ($22.8 million), France ($21.6 million), Brazil ($14.2 million) and Korea ($14 million).
In the context of the MCU — the biggest movie franchise in the world — Wakanda Forever has already overtaken The Incredible Hulk ($265 million globally), Captain America: The First Avenger ($370 million), Eternals ($402 million), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($432 million), Thor ($449 million) and Ant-Man ($518 million). Black Widow made $379 million globally last year, but that film was released day-and-date on the Disney+ streaming service for a premium access fee.
Wakanda Forever has a high bar to cross, though. Directed by Ryan Coogler, the film is a sequel to Coogler’s own 2018 blockbuster, which grossed $700 million domestically — the sixth-biggest haul of all time — and made $1.3 billion worldwide. The first Black Panther also earned Marvel Studios its first-ever Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, and is credited with having rewritten the rules of superhero filmmaking by featuring a predominantly Black cast.
Wakanda Forever has had a rather difficult journey to the big screen, after the sudden death of star Chadwick Boseman forced Coogler to first have a crisis of faith in filmmaking, and then to refashion the sequel into a tribute to both the late actor and his iconic character, King T’Challa. Wakanda Forever deals with themes of grief and family, as T’Challa’s loved ones learn to cope with his absence.
While the film’s reviews have been largely positive, there have been concerns over its perceived lack of action and its long run time of over two-and-a-half hours. The film has, however, blown rival DC’s Black Adam out of the water; for context, Black Adam is languishing with around $360 million globally after over a month in release. And with no competition in sight until next month’s long-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, Wakanda Forever has enough room to spread its wings.
The film stars Letitia Wright as Shuri, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Michaela Coel as Aneka, Angela Bassett as Queen Mother Ramonda, Mabel Cadena as Namora, Alex Livinalli as Attuma, Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, and Tenoch Huerta Mejía as the villainous Namor. You can watch our interview with Coogler here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.