We’ve confirmed that location service NRG is targeting a $175 million launch for Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. That total would make it the second best-grossing launch of 2022 after Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which debuted in May at $187.4 million. Last year’s Marvel sequel, Spider-Man: No Way Home, has the largest domestic premiere of the pandemic-era and the second-best in box office history at $260 million.
The $1.3 billion Black Panther sequel is a reboot of the franchise following the death of the lead actor in this image, Chadwick Boseman, in August 2020. Anyone coming out of San Diego Comic-Con after he seeing the trailer for the first time wonders who will be wearing the suit as the new Black Panther.
The first film opened for three days over Presidents Day weekend with a total of $202 million and a four-day of $242.1M. We’ve heard from exhibition sources that ticket sales for Wakanda Forever have been hot, but it’s not the best year yet.
Like all Marvel movies, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is hot with all the demos. The sequel is particularly over the top with black moviegoers.
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After all, it is a tent pole to get the exhibition and marketplace going again. New Line’s Dwayne Johnson DC film Black Adam is slated to open this weekend at over $60 million, a stepping stone towards Wakanda Forever. Black Adam came to tracking with $70 million and settled down to over $60 million.
The world premiere of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in Hollywood next Wednesday, so we’ll have an idea of what word of mouth is coming out of it by that time.
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