As the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever drew nearer, box office estimates for the film continued to rise. Most projections have the film pulling in between $175-185M domestically over the opening weekend, but last night’s previews may indicate those numbers are a bit on the low side. According to a trade report, the sequel opened with a massive $28M Thursday, good for 15th all-time at the box office.
2018’s Black Panther took in $25M, which served as an early indicator that its opening weekend predictions may have been a bit low. That film eventually went on to rake $202M over its opening weekend, making Wakanda Forever’s first weekend worth watching. Critics have responded well to it overall and social media buzz around the film seems to be growing after early sentiment that audiences may lose interest following the death of Chadwick Boseman and the choice not to recast T’Challa.
Though most estimates had it lower, there were some experts who felt Wakanda Forever could open close to $200M, which would put give it the largest opening weekend of 2022, topping Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The film, which introduces one of Marvel Comics’ oldest characters, Namor, pits the nations of Wakanda and Talokan against one another in the wake of the loss of T’Challa, King and Black Panther of Wakanda.
Source: Variety
