Tickets have only been on sale since Monday but already, Black Panther is beginning to stamp its authority.
According to figures curated by Deadline this week, Marvel’s latest solo effort outpaced Captain America: Civil War as Fandango’s “best-selling MCU title in the first 24 hours of presales.” That’s an impressive feat in and of itself – for the record, Civil War wound up scoring $172 million in its opening weekend – but as Black Panther is still about a month away, it’d be unwise to take these advance ticket sales at face value.
Still, all of this has led to analysts adjusting their estimates for the Ryan Coogler-directed spinoff. Initially, we heard that $80 million was the target, which would have certainly been more than enough to crown the pic a success. Then, we learned that with a boost from positive reviews – should the critics end up enjoying it – the film may even hit $100 million. Which, again, would be a big win for Marvel.
Now, however, analysts think that if all goes well, Black Panther may end up collecting $120 million over its opening weekend on this side of the pond, which would give it a record-breaking debut. That figure would likely place it in the top 30 domestic openings of all-time and also make it the biggest solo character debut for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Currently, that honor sits with Spider-Man: Homecoming, which took in $117 million back in the summer. But with $120 million, that’d obviously place T’Challa ahead of his fellow Avenger. In other words, barring some unforeseen disaster, it appears that Marvel Studios has another mega-hit on their hands here, and we couldn’t be more excited to finally lay eyes on what they’ve cooked up.
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, on the 16th. 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.