All hail the king! Black Panther’s Thursday night preview estimated at $25M

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

UPDATE: BLACK PANTHER's Thursday night haul is now placed at $25.2 million, barely coming out ahead of CIVIL WAR, making it the second-biggest Marvel preview night ever. 

No longer is it an issue of if BLACK PANTHER will be a giant monster hit, but of how big of a giant monster hit the movie will be. We won’t have the actual weekend estimates for the movie’s opening weekend until tomorrow, but already the movie is on track to have one of the biggest openings ever after a tremendous Thursday night opening.

Current box office projections for the movie’s early shows (via Deadline) are putting the movie's take at about $25 million, which could grow higher as a more precise number comes in. That means the movie is on track to either surpass or tie with CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR ($25 million) and is looking to come in behind AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON ($27.6 million). Not only is this a massive amount, but PANTHER now has the additional honor of having the best pre-summer preview night ever, beating THE HUNGER GAMES ($19.7 million). In other words, it’s time to bow down to the king.

The movie’s box office opening has been debated for over a month, with the earliest projections saying it could have a clear shot at clearing $100 million, giving it one of the best Marvel solo debuts ever. From there the numbers continued to grow as Fandango pre-sales began to eclipse that of movies like CIVIL WAR and other superhero movies like BATMAN V. SUPERMAN. The movie starring Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael B. Jordan and more is now Fandango's fourth-largest pre-seller ever, behind the likes of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, THE LAST JEDI and ROGUE ONE, and is on track for a $160+ million weekend, and a $180+ million four-day-total (for President’s Day).

This total will give PANTHER the crown for the largest February opening ever, coming in ahead of DEADPOOL's $152 million. The movie is also starting off nicely overseas, having so far made $23 million in its first two days across 17 markets.

This is already being seen as a massive cultural moment by moviegoers, with PANTHER being the first movie of this size to feature a predominately Black cast, and already there’s no doubt it will be the highest-grossing movie featuring a Black ensemble. Taking advantage of a relatively slow February, PANTHER could keep on this pace to out-gross WONDER WOMAN to be the highest-grossing superhero solo debut ever. 

I've seen PANTHER, I liked it immensely (but it's not without a fault or two), and I'm sure many of you saw it too! I will probably go in for seconds, and if others do the same, I suspect this Thursday night number is only the start of a tremendous run for BLACK PANTHER.

BLACK PANTHER is in theaters now!