Disney and Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever remained the audience’s first choice this weekend, as it fended off (minor) competition from in-house animated title Strange World. The Marvel superhero sequel entered its third week of release by passing a major box office milestone. The film has now made more than $600 million globally, and is the seventh-biggest Hollywood film of the year worldwide, behind fellow Marvel sequel Thor: Love and Thunder ($760 million).
Wakanda Forever has made over $321 million domestically, and an additional $279 million from overseas territories, for a global haul of $600 million. The film’s biggest international territory is the United Kingdom, where it has made $27 million, followed by Mexico ($23.2 million), France ($21.6 million) and Brazil ($14.2 million).
By comparison with the rest 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), Ant-Man ($518 million) and the first Iron Man ($585 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. On the taxiway ahead of it are Iron Man 2 ($621 million) Ant-Man and the Wasp ($623 million), Thor: The Dark World ($644 million) and Doctor Strange ($676 million).
The first Black Panther film was a cultural touchstone. Released in 2018, the film made $700 million domestically — the sixth-biggest haul of all time — and finished its global run with $1.3 billion. Director Ryan Coogler, who also helmed the first movie, faced numerous difficulties in bringing Wakanda Forever to the big screen, chief among which was the sudden passing of star Chadwick Boseman. He died of cancer in 2020, after having battled the illness privately for four years. Much of Wakanda Forever — a film that deals with themes of grief and family — was refashioned into a moving tribute to both Boseman and his character, the iconic King T’Challa.
Wakanda Forever 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.