Black Panther smashes multiple box office records in opening weekend
The Marvel hit took in a whopping $361m (£257m) globally
Given the fantastic critical reception and abundance of goodwill in the lead-up to the release of Marvel's Black Panther, it was widely expected that the film would perform well at the box office – but few could have predicted just how well.
Since its release last week, the film has instantly became the top grossing movie by a black director (Ryan Coogler) – beating out F Gary Gray's Fate of the Furious by almost $100 million – after taking in a whopping $361m (£257m) globally on its opening weekend, $192m (£137m) of that made in America, according to Box Office Mojo.
Furthermore, it also became the highest-grossing February opening ever, beating out 20th Century Fox's Deadpool, which took in $132m (£94m) in 2016.
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Its three-day opening is the fifth largest in history, and over America's four-day holiday weekend it is expected to reach a total of $218m from US audiences alone – a total that is already guaranteed to top the previous President's Day record, also held by Deadpool.
In Marvel terms, Black Panther is the second largest opening in the MCU, only beaten by The Avengers which took $207m (£147m) over the course of its three-day weekend.
Interestingly, the film's biggest market outside of the USA was in South Korea, where it took in $25.3m (£18m) followed by the UK at $24.8m (£17.7m). This has been chalked up to the fact that numerous key action scenes were filmed in the port city of Busan.
On Friday, Brie Larson – who is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Captain Marvel next year – took to Twitter to connect users who were unable to afford tickets to the film with people who were willing to sponsor their trip to the cinema.
Black Panther's competition came in the form of Peter Rabbit which released in the US to $17.25m (£12.3m), followed by Fifty Shades Freed earning $16.9m (£12m) in its second week. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Greatest Showman – both high earners over the festive period – continue to pull in cinema-goers.
Black Panther is out in UK cinemas NOW
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