LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – Marvel Studios adventure “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” brought crowds to movie theaters around the globe over the weekend, selling an estimated $330 million in tickets and setting a November record in the United States and Canada.
The sequel to 2018 Oscar-nominated blockbuster “Black Panther” racked up roughly $180 million at domestic theaters Thursday night through Sunday, distributor Walt Disney Co DIS.N said. That marked the highest total ever for a film opening in November, topping the $158.1 million for 2013 film
“The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”
Outside the domestic market, “Wakanda Forever” pulled in an estimated $150 million from Wednesday through Sunday. It ranked as the top-grossing Hollywood release in all markets.
The results provided a boost to movie theaters, which have struggled to return to pre-pandemic levels of ticket sales. The domestic total ranked as the No. 13 movie debut of all time.
“One of the top 15 openings of all time tells me the box office is pretty healthy when there is something audiences what to see,” said Jeff Bock, senior media analyst at Exhibitor Relations Co. “Marvel time and time again offers something audiences want to see.”
The original “Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman as King T’Challa, broke ground as the first superhero movie with a predominantly Black cast. The film took in $1.3 billion at worldwide box offices over its run and became the only superhero movie ever nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.
Marvel had to rework “Wakanda Forever” after Boseman died of cancer in 2020 just before filming was supposed to begin.
The studio decided not to cast another actor in the role of T’Challa. Instead, writer and director Ryan Coogler crafted a new film that centers around T’Challa’s younger sister Shuri (Letitia Wright), his mother Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and other women who step up to help lead the grieving nation.
