Can you feel it? We sure can. There’s a palpable sense of excitement in the air swirling around Ryan Coogler’s upcoming Black Panther, which will claw its way into theaters on February 16th. With what’s been a tremendous marketing campaign now winding down, and advanced ticket sales for the film promising big numbers at the box office, all signs point to another monster hit for Marvel, and we’ll know soon enough if that’s indeed the case.
But until we get to see T’Challa’s solo outing for ourselves, we have one more piece of good news to get you hyped, and that’s that apparently, the spinoff is testing extremely well with audiences. At least, that’s according to an insider on Twitter, who took to the social media platform to not only share that, but also the fact that Coogler will be asked back for the sequel, which indicates that talk of a follow-up is already underway.
Black Panther is testing extremely well. Looks like Ryan Coogler will get a bigger paycheck for Black Panther 2. Presuming he’ll board the Wakanda express again, that’s currently hurtling towards a record breaking Marvel opening.
Excited yet? While it’s still too soon for Disney to release its official projections, industry analysts believe Black Panther is headed for an $80 million debut in North America, with a possible shot at $100m-plus – providing the film is deemed a hit among critics, which we imagine it will be.
Of course, the Tweet above should be taken with the usual grain of salt, but if nothing else, it’s likely further proof that Black Panther is one of the most-anticipated new releases of 2018 – Avengers: Infinity War notwithstanding – and barring some unforeseen disaster, it appears Marvel Studios has another mega-hit on their hands.
Indeed, much like most other MCU films before it, Black Panther will begin its rollout overseas on February 9th, before T’Challa officially stakes a claim for the domestic box office crown one week later. He’ll enjoy a theatrical release fit for a king, too, as IMAX and Ryan Coogler recently outlined their plans to include a number of sequences specifically tailored for the large-screen format.
