Black Panther 2 to Break Hunger Games Box Office Record
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is poised to break a major November record. The title, which opened yesterday, is the final theatrical film from Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the first follow-up to the 2018 smash hit Black Panther.
Following the death of lead actor Chadwick Boseman, the film focuses on the ensemble cast of the original film grieving their fallen hero and joining forces to wage battle against the people of the underwater city of Talokan, led by Namor (Tenoch Huerta).
Per Deadline, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s opening weekend is closing in on a range between $175 and $185 million in the domestic box office. Of that total, 35% is composed of ticket sales for IMAX and other premium large format screens, which will see the film breaking the record for the highest-grossing IMAX film for November.
That title was previously held by another franchise part 2, the 2013 sequel The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
The original Black Panther, which was released on February 16th in 2018, was a major critical and commercial success. Its theatrical run eventually raked in $1.38 billion globally, though its U.S. total of $700.4 million makes it the sixth-highest grossing domestic film of all time, just behind this year’s megahit Top Gun: Maverick.
The film went on to be nominated for seven Oscars (including becoming the first superhero film to be nominated for Best Picture), winning for Best Original Score, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design.
Given the incredible performance of the original Black Panther, the sequel still has a way to go to prove it has as much box office potential. However, Wakanda Forever’s current opening weekend projections are very promising, and there is still a chance that it may exceed $190 million depending on how the rest of the holiday weekend shakes out.
It no longer looks like a guarantee that the sequel will earn the highest opening weekend of the year, as it’s trailing just behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ opening total of $187.4 million, but it’s still not opening too shy of Black Panther’s opening gross of $202 million.
Unfortunately, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is facing one major box office hurdle that the original film didn’t have. After movie theaters reopened following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, international tensions made it so that China – the territory that is usually a huge boon for any film’s international gross – isn’t screening many American blockbusters. That, combined with no theatrical run in Russia, will likely force the sequel to fall short of the original Black Panther, but as the titanic success of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home proved, Marvel movies do still have the power to rock the box office without China, so there’s always a chance.
This article was originally published on Screenrant.
