Marvel’sBlack Pantherwill most likely be the first huge box office blockbuster of the year, with a report from earlier this month revealing thatBlack Pantherscored thebiggest first day ticket pre-slaes in MCU history. Now the first box office tracking numbers seem to back that up as well, with the early projections puttingBlack Panther’s three-day opening weekend between $100 million and $120 million, making it easily the biggest debut of 2018 thus far. If this projection is accurate, it could set a unique new box office record within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
IfBlack Panthermanages to hit the high end of these these early tracking numbers, it will surpassSpider-Man: Homecomingas the highest-grossingMCUstand-alone debut. That movie earned $117 million, surpassingDoctor Strangeas the highest-grossing stand-alone/origin movie, debuting with an impressive $85 million last year. Both Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and T’challa/Black Panther were introduced in 2016’sCaptain America: Civil War. Of the 18 MCU movies that have hit theaters over the past 10 years,Black Pantherwill be just the ninth to debut over $100 million, and the fourth MCU movie in a row, following last year’sGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2($146.5 million),Spider-Man: Homecoming($117 million) andThor: Ragnarok($122.7 million).
Unlike most Marvel movies, which most rival studios tend to avoid like the plague,Black Pantheractually does have some competition when it hits theaters on February 16. Also opening againstT’challaand the rest of his Wakanda warriors are Lionsgate and Aardman Animation’s stop-motion adventureEarly Man, and PureFlix’s faith-based dramaSamson. While it is slightly unusual for any movie to open against a highly-anticipated Marvel adventure, both of these movies make sense from a counter-programming perspective, since none of these audiences are likely to cross over one bit. While neitherEarly MannorSamsonwill have any shot whatsoever at taking downBlack Panther, they still could perform well.
Black Pantheralso opens on the President’s Day holiday weekend, which could provide another advantage, with kids potentially taking advantage of a day off of school to go seeBlack Panther. The movie has also been making some unusual headlines of late, with comedian/reporter Sara Benincasa offering any reporter $300 to ask President Trump about his stance on the fictional country ofWakandafromBlack Panther, although no one has taken her up on the offer quite yet. It was also revealed by iconic Marvel Comics writer Christopher Priest that the character Everett K. Ross, which he created during his epic run on theBlack Panthercomics starting in 1998, was actually inspired by the Chandler Bing character fromFriends, played by Matthew Perry.
Black Panthercould also just be the beginning, with producer Nate Moore revealing in an interview that Marvel hopes to move forward with severalspin-offs and sequelsto this highly-anticipated movie, but naturally, that all depends on how audiences respond to this first movie. Still, ifBlack Pantherhits these projections, it could certainly be yet another huge hit for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, especially with what could be this year’s biggest movie,Avengers: Infinity War, arriving in May.The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news on these box office projections forBlack Panther.
