Lindsey Bahr
AP – The box office roared back to life with the long-awaited release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
The Marvel sequel earned USD180 million in ticket sales from more than 4,396 theatres in the United States (US) and Canada, according to estimates from The Walt Disney Co on Sunday, making it the second biggest opening of the year behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Overseas, it brought in an additional USD150 million from 50 territories, bringing its worldwide total to USD330 million.
Wakanda Forever was eagerly anticipated by both audiences and exhibitors, who have weathered a slow spell at the box office since the summer movie season ended and there were fewer bigger budget blockbusters in the pipeline.
The film got off to a mighty start a bit stronger than even the first film with an USD84 million opening day, including USD28 million from Thursday previews.
“Some may have hoped for USD200 million like the first film, but this is solid,” said Comscore’s senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “This is the type of movie that theatres really need to drive audiences.”
The first film opened to USD202 million in February 2018 and went on to gross over USD1.4 billion worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing films of all time and a cultural phenomenon.
A sequel was inevitable, and development began soon after with director Ryan Coogler returning, but everything changed after Chadwick Boseman’s unexpected death in August 2020.
Wakanda Forever became, instead, about the death of Boseman’s King T’Challa/Black Panther, and the grieving kingdom he left behind.
Returning actors include Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Danai Gurira, who face off against a new foe in Tenoch Huerta’s Namor. The film would face more complications too, including Wright getting injured and some COVID-19 related setbacks. All told, it cost a reported USD250 million to make, not accounting for marketing and promotion.
AP Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote in his review that, “Wakanda Forever is overlong, a little unwieldy and somewhat mystifyingly steers toward a climax on a barge in the middle of the Atlantic. But Coogler’s fluid command of mixing intimacy with spectacle remains gripping.”
It currently holds an 84 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and, as is often the case with comic book films, the audience scores are even higher. Superhero films have fared well during the pandemic, but none yet have reached the heights of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which opened to USD260.1 million last December.
Other big launches include Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (USD187.4 million in May), Thor: Love and Thunder (USD144.2 million in July) and The Batman (USD134 million in March).
Wakanda Forever is the first film to open over USD100 million since Thor in July, which has been difficult for exhibitors that are already dealing with a calendar that has about 30 per cent fewer wide releases than in a normal year. Holdovers populated the rest of the top five, as no film dared launch nationwide against a Marvel behemoth.
Second place went to the DC superhero Black Adam, with USD8.6 million, bringing its domestic total to USD151.1 million.
Ticket to Paradise landed in third, in weekend four, with USD6.1 million. The Julia Roberts and George Clooney romantic comedy has made nearly USD150 million worldwide.
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and Smile rounded out the top five with USD3.2 million and USD2.3 million, respectively.
Some awards hopefuls have struggled in their expansions lately, but Searchlight Pictures’ The Banshees of Inisherin, with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, looks like an exception.
The Martin McDonagh film expanded to 960 theatres in its fourth weekend and got seventh place on the charts with USD1.7 million, bringing its total to USD5.8 million.
“It’s been a very interesting post-summer period for movie theatres, with some gems out there doing well like Ticket to Paradise and Smile,” Dergarabedian said.
“But movie theatres can’t survive on non-blockbuster style films. The industry needs more of these.”
After Black Panther, the next blockbuster on the schedule is Avatar: The Way of Water, arriving on December 16.
The weekend wasn’t completely without any other high-profile releases.
Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical drama The Fabelmans opened in four theatres in New York and Los Angeles with USD160,000.
Universal and Amblin will roll the film out to more theatres in the coming weeks to build excitement around the likely Oscar-contender.
Michelle Williams and Paul Dano play parents to the Spielberg stand-in Sammy Fabelman, who is falling in love with movies and filmmaking as his parents’ marriage crumbles.
“This will be an interesting holiday season,” Dergarabedian said.
“I think a lot of the dramas and independent films will have their time to shine over the next couple months.”
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore.
1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, USD180 million
2. Black Adam, USD8.6m million
3. Ticket to Paradise, USD6.1 million
4. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, USD3.2 million
5. Smile, USD2.3 million
6. Prey for the Devil, USD2 million
7. The Banshees of Inisherin, USD1.7 million
8. One Piece Film Red, USD1.4 million
9. Till, USD618,000
10. Yashoda, USD380,000
