Box Office: Black Panther Claws Its Way To $1.1 Billion Worldwide

Evacuate the city and engage all defenses, for there’s a new challenger approaching.

Black Panther‘s month-long reign at the global box office is under threat from one Lara Croft, whose Tomb Raider reboot is said to be eyeing a $25 million opening across 3,700 theaters, Variety has learned.

That projection is actually on par with Black Panther‘s own forecast, given the standalone Ryan Coogler movie could also see an additional $25 million in its fifth weekend. It’s arguably too close to call, but for the folks at Marvel Studios, Black Panther has already earned its box office stripes. And sure enough, the latest figures curated by Forbes have confirmed that the Afrocentric tentpole has reached a whopping $1.1 billion worldwide as of this writing.

Per Forbes, that lifetime gross accounts for the film’s $570 million tally at the domestic box office, along with $81 million from China, where Black Panther debuted late last week. And the good news doesn’t end there, as Black Panther‘s global cume has officially outstripped Transformers: Age of Extinction ($1.104 billion) and Skyfall ($1.108 billion) on the box office charts.

Next up? Captain America: Civil War ($1.153 billion), and barring some unforeseen hiccup, it’s all but certain that Panther will overtake the Marvel ensemble pic before the final numbers are counted.

Either way, this past weekend Black Panther became the 33rd film ever to cross the $1 billion mark, and with viewers flocking to see T’Challa’s adventure three, four or even ten times, there’s really no telling how high those numbers will climb. Suddenly The Avengers‘ place at the tip-top of Marvel’s domestic chart doesn’t look so secure, after all…