Black Panther: Wakanda Forever once again ruled the box office following a blockbuster debut last week.
Disney and Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has
topped the half-billion mark at the global box office in just over a week of
release. With $288 million domestically and another $258 million from
international territories, Wakanda Forever’s global haul stands at an excellent
$546 million.
The film made an estimated $67.3 million in its second
weekend domestically, and added around $69 million from 50 international
markets this weekend. Wakanda Forever is currently the seventh-biggest movie of
the year worldwide, and is expected to eventually top both previous Marvel
Cinematic Universe releases of the year — Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of
Madness ($955 million) and Thor: Love and Thunder ($760 million). The film's
top-performing international territories are the UK ($27.1 million), Mexico
($22.8 million), France ($21.6 million), Brazil ($14.2 million) and Korea ($14
million).
In the context of the MCU — the biggest movie franchise in
the world — Wakanda Forever has already overtaken The Incredible Hulk ($265
million globally), Captain America: The First Avenger ($370 million), Eternals
($402 million), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($432 million), Thor
($449 million) and Ant-Man ($518 million). Black Widow made $379 million
globally last year, but that film was released day-and-date on the Disney+
streaming service for a premium access fee.
Wakanda Forever has a high bar to cross, though. Directed by
Ryan Coogler, the film is a sequel to Coogler’s own 2018 blockbuster, which
grossed $700 million domestically — the sixth-biggest haul of all time — and
made $1.3 billion worldwide. The first Black Panther also earned Marvel Studios
its first-ever Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, and is credited with
having rewritten the rules of superhero filmmaking by featuring a predominantly
Black cast.
Wakanda Forever has had a rather difficult journey to the
big screen, after the sudden death of star Chadwick Boseman forced Coogler to
first have a crisis of faith in filmmaking, and then to refashion the sequel
into a tribute to both the late actor and his iconic character, King T’Challa.
Wakanda Forever deals with themes of grief and family, as T’Challa’s loved ones
learn to cope with his absence.
While the film’s reviews have been largely positive, there
have been concerns over its perceived lack of action and its long run time of
over two-and-a-half hours. The film has, however, blown rival DC’s Black Adam
out of the water; for context, Black Adam is languishing with around $360
million globally after over a month in release. And with no competition in
sight until next month’s long-awaited sequel Avatar: The Way of Water, Wakanda
Forever has enough room to spread its wings.
The film stars Letitia Wright as Shuri, Lupita Nyong’o as
Nakia, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Dominique Thorne as Riri
Williams/Ironheart, Florence Kasumba as Ayo, Michaela Coel as Aneka, Angela
Bassett as Queen Mother Ramonda, Mabel Cadena as Namora, Alex Livinalli as
Attuma, Martin Freeman as Everett Ross, and Tenoch Huerta Mejía as the
villainous Namor. You can watch our interview with Coogler here, and stay tuned
to Collider for more updates.