Black Panther scored impressive box office numbers, bringing in an estimated $192 million by Sunday. That gives the film, which features a nearly all-Black cast, the fifth biggest domestic opening of all time. By the end of the three-day weekend, the movie is projected to earn more than $218 million over four days. In movie theaters overseas, Black Panther earned and estimated $169 million.
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“Black Panther exceeded even the grandest box office expectations while simultaneously breaking down cinematic barriers and marking a turning point in the evolution of the genre,” comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian told CNN, underscoring that the movie is an “important milestone.”
“Black Panther” brings in a record-breaking box office weekend http://cnn.it/2EzhwbD
The movie stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa (a.k.a. the Black Panther), a Marvel superhero who rules the mythical African nation of Wakanda, a technologically advanced country. It costars several Black Hollywood luminaries, including Lupita Nyong’o, Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett.
Here are a few of the records Black Panther has smashed, so far:
Biggest opening for a Black director
Ryan Coogler has the biggest movie opening for an African-American director, surpassing F. Gary Gray’s The Fate of the Furious that opened with $98 million.
#BlackPanther director Ryan Coogler had an aching for “characters that looked like me” and “worlds that looked like my world.” http://bit.ly/2E4C4IE
February opening
The film surpassed Deadpool, a superhero film, which earned $132 million in its February 2016 opening. Among superhero films, Black Panther is second only to The Avengers three-day opening in 2012.
‘Black Panther’ blows away box office with $192M weekend http://nyp.st/2o8PFEN
Unparalleled audience diversity
It’s rare for movies to draw large audience across demographic lines. Moviegoers who saw Black Panther over the weekend were 37 percent Black, 35 percent White, 18 percent Latino and 45 percent female.
Estimated audience breakdown for #BlackPanther:
37% African-American
35% Caucasian
18% Hispanic
5% Asian
5% other
Biggest pre-summer preview night
Black Panther opened on Thursday for preview showings and earned a record $25.2 million.
Black Panther generated $25.2 million from Thursday previews, making it the most successful February movie preview, according to Disney #tictocnews https://bloom.bg/2sCN9LK
Highest-rated Marvel movie of all-time
“Black Panther” has edged “The Incredibles” by one percentage point to become the highest-rated Marvel movie ever, according to the Rotten Tomatoes website. “The Incredibles” previously enjoyed that distinction with a 97 percent rating.