Of all 18 installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far, only two have collected $25 million in Thursday previews: Captain America: Civil War ($25 million) and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($27.6 million). But it appears Black Panther is about to become the third.
New figures relayed by Deadline have revealed that the Ryan Coogler-directed spinoff pulled in between $22 million and $24 million yesterday evening, though sources now claim that a $25 million-plus haul is well within reach. Such an achievement would mean Black Panther is on its way to a historic four-day weekend at the North American box office. $200 million is the glass-half-full estimate, which would undoubtedly place T’Challa in the company of greatness – if he wasn’t there already, mind you.
A $25 million Thursday is also notably higher than Deadpool ($12.7 million), which went on to claim February’s top spot with a four-day weekend of $152.1 million. Perhaps Black Panther can leave the Merc in the dust? One way or another, the movie has a good chance of becoming the biggest pre-summer preview night ever, easily outstripping The Hunger Games ($19.7 million).
So yes, to put it mildly, the buzz surrounding Black Panther has been electric, and the fact that Fandango recently named Marvel’s Afrocentric pic as its biggest superhero ticket-seller – higher than even Civil War or Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice – ought to bring things into perspective.
There’s no stopping T’Challa, it seems, and with scores of positive reviews already in the tank, all signs point to a massive four-day weekend for the Wakandan epic. Keep in mind that Disney is yet to release its own numbers though, so there may be some discrepancies between these preliminary figures and the final total.
Hailed as an unmissable addition to the MCU, Black Panther is in theaters as of today, February 16th.
