Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
- "Black Panther" earned the best-ever opening weekend at the box office ever for February with $192 million over three days and $218.2 million over the four-day Presidents' Day weekend.
- It's also the fifth-best opening ever for a three-day and four-day opening weekend, beating out 2015's "Avengers: Age of Ultron."
It looks like everyone took a trip to Wakanda this weekend.
Marvel's long-awaited release of "Black Panther" opened over the weekend and exceeded all domestic box office industry projections. It took in an estimated $192 million over three days and is looking to make $218.2 million by the end of Presidents' Day, according to boxofficepro.com.
That shattered the all-time February opening weekend held by "Deadpool" in 2016 ($132.4 million) and its four-day Presidents' Day holiday earning ($152 million).
The $192 million three-day take is the fifth-best ever, passing "Avengers: Age of Ultron" ($191.2 million). For a four-day opening, the movie is fifth-best all-time, knocking out "Age of Ultron ($204.4 million).
Playing on just over 4,000 screens, Disney gave "Black Panther" the "Star Wars" treatment in regards to blanketing the country with its latest release.
After its Thursday preview screenings took in $25.2 million — the best-ever for February and second-best out of the Marvel franchise — the movie earned an astounding $75.8 million on Friday — the eighth-best Friday opening ever (passing 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises," $75.7 million). Earning around $68 million on Saturday proved that "Black Panther" wasn't front-loaded.
Basically the movie industry got a taste of a summer blockbuster in February, a rarity but something that the movie theaters are ecstatic about.
Not even Disney expected this kind of event feel that the movie has had on the country.
From its record-breaking pre-ticket sales months leading up to this weekend and the critical reaction to the movie (97% on Rotten Tomatoes), director Ryan Coogler ("Creed") has brought to the screen a movie that isn't just a money-maker, but an important cultural moment as it gave the black community a long-awaited superhero movie they can call their own.
And telling diverse stories won't end here for Disney.
On March 9, they will be releasing "A Wrinkle in Time," the adaptation of the popular sci-fi novel by Madeleine L'Engle directed by Ava DuVernay ("Selma").
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See Also:
- 'Black Panther' is already breaking records at the box office — and had the second-best Thursday preview of any Marvel movie
- The best and worst superhero movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ranked according to critics
- 'Black Panther' is the rare Marvel movie that makes you care about the villain — and Michael B. Jordan delivers an incredible performance
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DON'T MISS OUR REVIEW: 'Black Panther' is the rare Marvel movie that makes you care about the villain — and Michael B. Jordan delivers an incredible performance
