It’s been a helluva year at the ticket booth for Marvel Studios, what with Black Panther ($1.34B) and Avengers: Infinity War ($1.99B) having entered the all-time worldwide gross top ten. Unfortunately, however, the success of the former has been somewhat overshadowed by the sheer domination of the latter at the box office.
While the Ryan Coogler-directed flick is perched atop the MCU domestic chart at nearly $700 million, a figure the Anthony and Joe Russo-directed blockbuster can consider a pipe dream at best, the fact that the third Avengers installment is about to make cinematic history by becoming the fourth feature ever to cross the $2 billion plateau alone is enough to dwarf any and all of T’Challa’s achievements.
Thankfully, though, president of Marvel Studios, Kevin Feige, recently returned Black Panther to the spotlight. During a sit-down with Deadline, the superproducer commented on the success of the pic, saying that Marvel “wanted to destroy the myth that black movies don’t work well around the world,” and judging by the box office numbers, mission accomplished.
Feige then lauded Disney, Marvel Studios’ new parent company, for pulling out all the stops regarding production and publicity for the Wakandian-set feature: “The budget for Black Panther was bigger than Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, and you can’t do that without the support and encouragement from the leaders of the company,” he said.
Next, Feige turned his attention to director Ryan Coogler, championing the Creed helmer and his diverse below-the-line line-up, including production designer Ruth Carter and DP Rachel Morrison, stating, “we can’t imagine the movie without them, and the future movies we hope to make with them.”
Although you can now take Black Panther home on Blu-ray and DVD, perhaps give it a second viewing at your local multiplex instead and help push T’Challa and co. past the $700 million mark domestically.
