Black Panther gearing up for $100+ million second weekend

February 23rd 2018, 9:20am

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

As BLACK PANTHER closes out its first full week it has shredded all preconceived notions of how well it would do, making in this week what analysts first thought it would make in its entire run. Once the numbers for Thursday roll in the movie will have surpassed $500 million globally and will be nearing $300 million domestically. That is beyond impressive, and it’s not even close to being finished, as it’s looking to have a stellar $100+ million weekend.

Current industry tracking is estimating that the Marvel mega-hit starring Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong'o and Michael B. Jordan should easily clear another $100+ weekend, bringing it ever so close to $400 million after nine days in theaters. Other movies that have had a $200+ million opening weekend, STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, THE AVENGERS and JURASSIC WORLD also had $100+ million second weekends at $149 million, $103 million and $106 million respectively. The other title on the $200 million list, STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, only brought in $71 million, and $99 million for the four-day Christmas weekend.

One little tidbit worth mentioning is that AVENGERS and WORLD (the two movies PANTHER is the most comparable weekends) both had other big summer movies opening up their second weekend. AVENGERS had DARK SHADOWS (which underperformed but still opened to $30 million) and JURASSIC WORLD had INSIDE OUT ($90 million). BLACK PANTHER doesn't really have that problem this weekend. As BoxOffice.com detailed in their forecast, both this week's ANNIHILATION and GAME NIGHT aren't likely to get to $20 million this weekend, leaving PANTHER more room to grow. Like last weekend, PANTHER could overcome the estimates and bring in even more money should the two new releases not bring in the crowds.

These numbers are placing BLACK PANTHER among a special group of blockbusters that have transcended even some of our wildest imaginations. If the gravity of T’Challa’s reign hasn’t really set it, here are some other stats that could make the picture clear. First of all, if PANTHER does make over $100 million this weekend, it could easily pass WONDER WOMAN’s domestic gross ($412 million) by this Tuesday or Wednesday. On top of that, by the end of its third weekend, it will most likely have passed the overall domestic total of AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON ($459 million). Should I even mention it’s already leaped over the domestic total of JUSTICE LEAGUE in a single bound?

At this rate, PANTHER should have no problem crossing $500 million to become one of the biggest domestic hits ever, setting its sights on the $600 million mark. Some are even starting to speculate if it will end up with a higher total than this year's AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR. That’s very possible, but it’s too early to even imagine how big that movie can be. As for this weekend, I'm going to put my money down and say PANTHER has the second-largest second weekend ever, passing JURASSIC WORLD's $106 million. This movie has been surprising us at every turn, so I'm just going to go ahead and bet big.

Catch BLACK PANTHER in theaters this weekend if you haven't already! Or go again! You should go again.