Anticipation is running high for Black Panther, which is why it's projected to become one of the highest-grossing movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Getting T'Challa's story onto the big screen has been a long and arduous journey. Columbia Pictures attempted an adaptation in the early 1990s with Wesley Snipes in the title role, but that project ended up falling by the wayside. Although the Black Panther film rights returned to Marvel in 2005, it's taken the studio years to bring the character onto the big screen.
Chadwick Boseman made his debut as T'Challa, aka Black Panther, in Anthony and Joe Russo's Captain America: Civil War in 2016, and he's slated to reprise his role in the Russo's Avengers: Infinity War this summer. But before he joins the Earth's mightiest heroes in their fight against the Mad Titan Thanos, Boseman will be appearing in Ryan Coogler's Black Panther solo movie later this month. Audiences are so excited for the movie that Black Panther has already broken all ticket presale records, and it's projected to earn $150 million over its opening weekend, thus giving Deadpool's February opening record a run for its money. However, Black Panther isn't expected to just earn big initially and drop off. In fact, it might just become one of the MCU's highest-grossing releases ever.
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According to a long-range forecast by Box Office Pro, Black Panther is now projected to earn up to $400 million (if not more) at the domestic box office, thus making it one of the highest-grossing solo superhero movies ever to release.
Earning $400 million in the U.S. would put Black Panther just under Sam Raimi's Spider-Man ($403.7 million), Shane Black's Iron Man 3 ($409 million), and Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman ($412.5 million) with regard to solo superhero films. Plus, it would make it the fifth highest-grossing MCU film in the U.S. to date, behind Civil War, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and The Avengers.
Regardless of how well Black Panther ends up performing, it's clear that Marvel Studios has another winner on their hands. Black Panther social media reactions are overwhelmingly positive, with many critics citing this film as having the shared universe's best villain yet. Plus, the fact that it's already outpacing Civil War means it's on the right track to earn quite the sum at the global box office.
If Black Panther does manage to rake in an estimated $400 million under its belt, it's certainly possible that the film could pull another $400 to $500 million from overseas markets and become the second highest-grossing solo MCU movie, behind Iron Man 3 (which got a significant boost in ticket sales thanks to being the MCU's first post-Avengers film). After all, Marvel movies tend to do much better internationally than domestically.
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Source: Box Office Pro
