During its domestic opening, Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” grossed an approximated $180 million ticket revenue.
The film’s profits in its debut weekend have made it the largest cinematic opener in November. It also achieved the second-highest launch in terms of sales in 2022. Many analysts anticipated the film’s success last week as fans eagerly awaited the sequel to the Black Panther picture, which was released in theaters in 2018. The film honors Chadwick Boseman, who played the Black Panther in the first film.
According to estimations, nearly 12.7 million people watched Wakanda Forever in theaters. According to EntTelligence, the film just fell a million short of Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The Doctor Strange Movie attracted over 13.7 million spectators in its opening weekend in May. Nevertheless, the same film still has the highest opening week sales in 2022, collecting over $187 million. However, if ticket sales for Wakanda Forever increase in the next few days, it will eclipse that figure.
“After weeks of a post-summer slowdown, ‘Wakanda Forever’ delivered a strong reminder of the power of an epic Marvel movie to deliver blockbuster-style revenue to movie theaters,” said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst at Comscore.
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Wakanda Forever and its anticipated success
“Wakanda Forever” surpassed “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” for the strongest November opening ever. The Hunger Games movie grossed $158 million when it aired in 2013. According to analysts, “Wakanda Forever” ticket sales increased partly owing to the predominantly Black cast. Like the original Black Panther film, its sequel garnered Hispanic and African American audiences.
″‘Wakanda Forever’ is living up to expectations as not just an important tentpole blockbuster for Disney and movie theaters, but also a memorial to Chadwick Boseman that fans are sharing and experiencing together,” explained Shawn Robbins, a BoxOffice.com chief analyst.
″‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is opening under extraordinary circumstances amidst a wave of goodwill and an outpouring of support for the work and legacy of Chadwick Boseman. And the indelible mark he made in the title role in the original film that was a billion-dollar global hit,” said Dergarabedian last week.
“I think that what we’re going to see out of this film is that well over the indexing of the African American representation of consumers, and then over-indexing of Hispanic consumers into this,” added the National Association of Theatre Owners chairman, Rolando Rodriguez.
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Aiding the financial woes of theatre owners
The vast turnout will benefit theatre owners, especially during challenging financial times. According to EntTelligence, Wakanda Forever contributed over 94% of all domestic theater foot traffic in the United States. Meanwhile, Dergarabedian noted that it would improve the audience of numerous other films released in theaters in the coming months.
“Positive reception should help propel this film in the weeks ahead as fans embrace the heartfelt continuation of the Black Panther story and the MCU moves forward into its next phase,” Robbins said.
Photo Credit: IMDb
Source: CNBC
Opinions expressed by CEO Weekly contributors are their own.
