It is Black Panther‘s opening weekend and the film’s premiere weekend setting out to be a big one, breaking box office records.
After what seemed like an eternity, Black Panther is finally in theaters. While official reviews from critics have come back largely positive (it’s got a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), the real success would lie in how many fans ended up in movie theaters. And while it’s still early, Black Panther fans seemed to have come out in waves to support the movie.
Related: Black Panther cast speaks about the film’s female representation
Box office predictions say the film is on track to rake in over $165 million dollars over the four-day weekend. That would officially set Black Panther as the highest performing film in the month of February and over the holiday frame. The last film to earn that title was 2016’s Deadpool.
It’s not terribly surprising to see the film perform this well right out of the gate. Well before the film landed in theaters, Fandango was already reporting that Black Panther was beating advanced ticket sales records. In fact, the film is the best-selling Marvel ticket for the service, coming in fourth overall behind the three new Star Wars films, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and Rogue One.
This is a landmark movie, as a superhero film on this scale with a primarily black cast has really never happened before. A quick perusal of Twitter and the “What Black Panther Means To Me” hashtag will highlight how impactful this film has already been on fans. It’s so exciting to see such an important movie absolutely rock the box office.
Of course, this is only the beginning. The full story of the film’s box office performance will come in the weeks ahead as well as its overseas performance. However, if this weekend is any indication, Wakanda is about to dominate the box office.