The
Disney-Marvel movie Black Panther, which finds the superheroic
T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) returning to his remote African kingdom to
assume the throne, roared into theaters over the weekend as a full-blown
cultural event, breaking box office records and shattering a myth
about the overseas viability of movies rooted in black culture.
Global
ticket sales by Monday will total an estimated $387 million, according
to comScore.
Black Panther instantly became the top-grossing film in history by a black director (Ryan Coogler) and featuring a largely black cast.
The previous record-holder was Straight Outta Compton, which
collected $214 million worldwide in 2015 — over its entire run — after
adjusting for inflation.
Disney,
which supported “Black Panther” with a lavish nine-month marketing
campaign, said on Sunday that ticket sales for the film in North America
will total roughly $218 million between Friday and Monday.
Theaters
scrambled to add show times to accommodate crowds; AMC Southlake 24 in
suburban Atlanta squeezed in 84 show times on Friday alone. In many
cities, movie goers arrived in outfits inspired by the film.
Analysts
had expected “Black Panther” to arrive to about $165 million in North
American ticket sales, which would itself have been an astounding result
for a release outside the holiday and summer corridors.
The previous domestic record-holder for a February release was “Deadpool,” which collected an adjusted $159 million over Presidents’ Day weekend in 2016.