You’ve probably heard a lot aboutBlack Pantherin the last few weeks. You’re about to see for yourself if all the hype is to be believed onceRyan Coogler’s MCU debut hits theaters week. But there’s every reason to believe that it’s going to be one of the biggest films ever to bear the Marvel mark, especially for a solo superhero outing. And while opening weekend box office estimates were down around $100 and $120 million just a few weeks ago, positive reviews and unstoppable buzz have pushed those numbers way up to around the $165 million mark.
AsTHRreports, box-office tracking outlet NRG is now counting a possible $165 million total for the four-day President’s Day weekend forBlack Panther. Now this is the same group of folks who saidBlack Pantherwould top out around $125 million, followed by $150 million a week later; estimates are just that, so the final result could be short of the mark, spot-on, or could even exceed expectations. Regardless, the MCU’s latest effort is looking to break some substantial box office records.
First up, Fox/Marvel’sDeadpoolcurrently holds the record for the best February opening frame with $132.4 million. That’s easily inBlack Panther’s target range. But if we’re sticking inside the MCU proper, anything overIron Man’s $98.6 million opening weekend that kickstarted the cinematic universe nearly 10 years ago will be the biggest opening for a debut solo title. Everything aboveIron Man’s debut is either a sequel or a super-team-up, includingMarvel’s The AvengersandAvengers: Age of Ultronwith the top two spots of $207.4 million and $191.3 million respectively. A final weekend tally of $165 million would putBlack Pantherbehind the #3 and #4 MCU films–Captain America: Civil Warwith $179.1 million andIron Man 3with $174.1 million.
That #3 film just so happened to serve as an introduction forChadwick Boseman’s T’Challa, a.k.a. Black Panther, and audiences responded overwhelmingly positively to his arrival. Will that excitement translate over to a huge box office win forBlack Panther? I certainly think so, and now the tracking is finally starting to line up with the expectations felt by fans of the character and the creative team assembled both in front of and behind the cameras. This thing’s gonna be massive.
For more onBlack Panther, take a look our most recent write-ups:
