Marvel’sBlack Pantheris off to an excellent start and is already breaking records. After months of anticipation and hype building for T’Challa’s first solo adventure in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the movie has finally arrived. The movie has been met with near-universal praise so far and it looks like that’s going to propel the movie to record-breaking heights at the box office this weekend. The Thursday night preview numbers forBlack Panther, which brought in $25.2 million ahead of Friday, makes it thesecond-highest grossing Marvel movie everon a Thursday night.
The $25.2 million figure putsBlack Pantherjust above lastCaptain America: Civil War, which made $25 million in Thursday night previews in 2016. That just so happens to be the movie that introduced Chadwick Boseman’sBlack Pantherto the MCU. The only Marvel movie to make more in Thursday night previews isAvengers: Age of Ultron, which pulled in $27.6 million in 2015. TheAvengerssequel ultimately went on to gross $1.4 billion at the global box office, which bodes well forBlack Panther. The question is, how much money can this movie really make?
Captain America: Civil Warseems to be the most logical basis for comparison at this point, given how close the movies were to one another in Thursday previews.Civil Warwent on to earn $179.1 million on its opening weekend. Currently, through Sunday, Disney is projecting thatBlack Pantherwill make somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 million. However, it’s starting to look like that could be a very conservative estimate. At this point, it looks likeBlack Panthercould cross the $180 million mark. Not to mention that it’sPresident’s Day weekend, meaning that Monday should prove to be another big day for theMCU’s latest offering.Black Pantheris going to overperform, it’s really just a question of by how much.
Black Pantherhas been aided tremendously by overwhelmingly positive buzz. Currently, the movie boasts a98% approval rating from Critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with 243 reviews counted. A mere six of those reviews are negative. What could really helpBlack Panther, not just this weekend, but in the long run, is that there’s a lot of interest in repeat viewings. According to Fandango, 61 percent of people are considering seeingBlack Pantherfor a second time. Even if they don’t double-dip this weekend, that’s sure to help the movie have some staying power in the coming weeks.
It’s also being reported that many of the pre-sale tickets were purchased by churches, youth groups, fraternities, sororities, and student groups in celebration ofBlack Pantherbeing the first true blockbuster movie to feature a predominantly black cast. Plus, there’s the #BlackPantherChallenge, which helped raise money for inner-city kids to see the movie.Black Pantheralso now holds the record for the biggest pre-summer preview ever, beatingThe Hunger Games($19.7 million) andDeadpool’s box office take of $12.7 million, according toDeadline. By weekend’s end,Black Panthershould easily beatDeadpool’s February opening weekend record of $132.4 million.
