Last Updated: March 25

Marvel's Black Panther is finally hitting theaters after spending 24 years in development hell, and it looks like it was well worth the wait. Black Panther - directed by Ryan Coogler and written by Joe Robert Cole, and starring Chadwick Boseman as the eponymous character - is being hailed as one of the best MCU films to date. And with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 97 percent, Black Panther is one of the highest-rated superhero films of all-time.

Taking those reviews into account, as well as all of the hype that's been building since T'Challa's debut in Captain America: Civil War, it's clear that Black Panther is on its way to box office glory. At the moment, Black Panther is on track for a $165+ million debut at the U.S. box office. That puts it ahead of many films on the domestic chart and in the running to set multiple new records.

This Page: All the Records Black Panther Broke Before its Release

Black Panther is Highest-Rated Superhero Movie

Black Panther is now the highest-rated Marvel movie of all-time (according to Rotten Tomatoes). That includes all Marvel films, not just ones from Marvel Studios. It's currently sitting at 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, with Jon Favreau's Iron Man in second place at 94 percent and James Mangold's Logan in third place at 93 percent. Joss Whedon's The Avengers, Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok, and Jon Watts' Spider-Man: Homecoming are all tied in fourth place at 92 percent. Although Black Panther's ratings may fluctuate when the film releases, it should maintain its lead above all the other Marvel movies.

Update: With a continuous score of 97/98 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, Black Panther is currently the highest-rated superhero film of all-time on the review-aggregate website, surpassing 2004's The Incredibles (97%).

Black Panther Ticket Presales Pass All Superhero Films

Ticket presales are used by box office analysts to track how well a movie will perform over the course of its opening weekend. Considering that Black Panther was originally expected to hit $90 million in the U.S. and is now tracking for more than $170 million, it's safe to say that presales are not only high but they continue to tick higher as the film's release date nears. On Fandango, Black Panther is outpacing all superhero films - particularly Marvel and DC films - for most ticket presales. The previous record-holder was Zack Snyder's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, which opened to $166 million at the domestic box office in March 2016.

As if that wasn't enough, Black Panther is also leading in ticket presales on Fandango for all first quarter films (January through March). That includes recent blockbuster releases such as 2012's The Hunger Games and 2017's Beauty and the Beast. Considering that superhero movies tend to lead the pack, though, that record may not be as surprising as Black Panther edging out all other superhero films. The question is, how will Avengers: Infinity War do against Black Panther's numbers?

Black Panther IMAX Ticket Presales Ahead Of All Marvel Films

Black Panther poster cropped

On top of already surpassing every superhero movie on Fandango, Black Panther is also leading in IMAX ticket presales. IMAX's chief recently mentioned that presale tickets for superhero movies tend to peak about 10 days prior to release, but Black Panther isn't expected to peak until it hits theaters. While he didn't say how many tickets have been sold thus far, he did say that Black Panther is currently outpacing every Marvel movie for IMAX ticket presales. That most likely includes non-MCU films as well. It'll be interesting to see how Black Panther's IMAX sales stack up against not only the rest of the MCU but to DC films and all other blockbusters as well.

Black Panther Sets February Thursday Night Previews Record

Black Panther got off to a strong start thanks to its Thursday night previews. The film raked in a hefty sum of $25.2 million at the U.S. box office on February 15, not only doubling Deadpool's previous February preview record of $12.7 million but also becoming one of the highest-grossing previews ever for a superhero film. Black Panther passed Captain America: Civil War ($25 million) to score the second-highest preview gross for a Marvel movie - behind only Avengers: Age of Ultron ($27.6 million) - and the fourth highest for a superhero film, behind The Dark Knight Rises ($30.6 million), Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice ($27.7 million), and the aforementioned Avengers film.

Black Panther Opening Day Gross Tops All Non-Team-Up Films

Black Panther continued to rake in big bucks following its preview night. On opening day - Friday, February 17 - Black Panther grossed an estimated $75.81 million, thus topping Deadpool's $47.3 million to set a new February opening day record. But that's not what's most impressive about that number. Black Panther also topped Captain America: Civil War and The Dark Knight Rises to secure the eighth spot on the chart of highest-grossing opening days of all-time. In fact, it's only a few million dollars short of tying with 2012's The Avengers ($80.81 million). Moreover, Black Panther's number puts it on top of all non-team-up superhero films; the second closest is 2013's Iron Man 3 ($68.85 million).

Black Panther Sets February Opening Weekend Record

After topping the competition on Thursday and Friday, Black Panther went all the way and set a new box office record, one that most likely won't be topped for a long time to come. Black Panther earned a whopping $192 million at the domestic box office, thus topping Deadpool's previous 3-day opening record of $132.4 million. (It also tops Deadpool's 4-day gross of $152.1 million, which opened this same weekend two years ago.) As if that wasn't enough, Black Panther also topped Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.2 million) to score the fifth highest-grossing opening weekend of all-time, behind only The Avengers ($207.4 million), Jurassic World ($208.8 million), Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220 million), and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247.96 million).

It's worth noting that Black Panther's numbers are currently estimates, and the actual figures (which usually arrive Monday morning but may be delayed to Tuesday because of the holiday weekend) might come in higher, thus giving it a chance of breaking the $200 million threshold. Update: Black Panther's official opening weekend gross came in at $201.7 million.

Black Panther Has Biggest Opening For an African-American Director

Ryan Coogler directs Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther

Black Panther's 3-day opening weekend gross of $201.7 million is by far the biggest opening for a film by an African-American director. Ryan Coogler bested the competition by a long shot; the previous record-holder was F. Gary Gray's The Fate of the Furious, which opened to $98 million at the domestic box office in April 2017. Suffice to say, Coogler is going to hold onto that record for a long time considering that the film broke $200 million already.

Black Panther Sets Monday Box Office Record

Thanks in part to Monday, February 19 being a holiday in the U.S., Black Panther's unbelievable box office streak continued with a record-breaking Monday gross of $40.176 million at the domestic box office. That number puts Black Panther barely above J.J. Abrams' 2015 film, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which was the previous record-holder for the highest-grossing Monday with $40.110 million. Black Panther just barely edged out The Force Awakens' gross by $66,000 (unadjusted for ticket price inflation, of course). Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The Force Awakens (again) are now in third and fourth place with $32 million and $31.36 million, respectively.

Black Panther Has Marvel's Highest Tuesday Gross Ever

Black Panther continued to pull in big bucks on Tuesday, February 20 - the film's first day at the box office that wasn't part of President's Day weekend. Black Panther grossed $21.07 million, thus topping The Avengers' former record of $17.6 million from 2012. That number also gives the film the highest-grossing, pre-summer Tuesday ever, beating Beauty and the Beast's gross of $17.8 million from 2017. Star Wars: The Force Awakens still holds the record for highest-grossing Tuesday with $37.36 million, with Black Panther falling in 10th place on the all-time chart.

Black Panther Scores Marvel's Biggest Wednesday Ever

Black Panther

Black Panther continued its streak of scoring the highest-grossing Monday and Tuesdays ever for Marvel Studios by also nabbing the studio's highest-grossing Wednesday as well. Black Panther earned $14.5 million on Wednesday, February 21, thus passing The Avengers' previous record of $13.6 million. With that, the film is on the verge of passing $500 million at the worldwide box office, thus putting it on-track to hit $1 billion globally.

Black Panther Gets Highest-Grossing Thursday For Marvel

Black Panther - Mid-credits scene

Black Panther is now Marvel's highest-grossing film for every weekday - Monday thru Friday. It scored its final weekday record by grossing $14.3 million on Thursday at the domestic box office, thus eclipsing The Avengers' gross of $12.4 million that it earned in 2012. While it's the highest Thursday gross for an MCU film, it's only the 39th highest for a movie. Right now, it's situated between 2008's Marley & Me ($14.38 million) and 2010's Sex and the City ($14.2 million). Also, 2004's Spider-Man 2 currently holds the record for having the highest-grossing Thursday for all Marvel-based movies, with $23.8 million.

Black Panther Has MCU's Highest-Grossing First Week

Considering that Black Panther broke all of the MCU's weekday box office records, it makes sense that - coupling all the records - Black Panther would also have the MCU's highest-grossing first week at the domestic box office. Since releasing in theaters on February 16, Black Panther has grossed a whopping $292 million domestically, of which $202 million was earned over its opening weekend. Black Panther's record-breaking box office haul is $22 million higher than The Avengers' first week gross of $270 million.

Black Panther Has MCU's Highest-Grossing Second Weekend

The Avengers Black Panther

Black Panther toppled every Marvel Cinematic Universe movie over its second weekend at the domestic box office. It grossed an estimated $108 million, and has thus passed The Avengers' $103 million to become the fourth movie ever to cross the $100 million threshold in weekend #2. That number puts Black Panther in second place for weekend #2, behind The Force Awakens ($149.2 million). What's interesting is that Black Panther was once expected to gross $400 million at the U.S. box office throughout its theatrical run, but it has already passed that mark in just over one week. And it's only going to go higher and higher from here on out; it's just a question of how high?

Black Panther Is Now The Highest-Grossing Solo Superhero Movie

Black Panther crossed $1 billion in its 26th day of release, and by its 27th, it became the highest-grossing solo superhero movie to date. Black Panther passed The Dark Knight at the domestic box office in its fourth weekend. It has now earned an estimated $562 million domestically compared to The Dark Knight's $534.8 million. The only movie ahead of it now domestically is The Avengers, which grossed $623.3 million when it hit theaters in 2012. Of course, when adjusting for ticket price inflation, 1989's Batman ($577.9 million), 2002's Spider-Man ($637.8 million), and 2008's The Dark Knight ($683.5 million) are all still ahead of Black Panther's gross. But considering how well the Marvel movie continues to perform, it might eventually overtake those numbers as well.

Black Panther is the Most Tweeted About Movie Ever

Twitter confirmed recently that Black Panther has passed 35 million tweets, thus making it the most tweeted about movie of all-time. Although it's not a box office record, this new record goes to show that audiences continue to talk about the movie online long after they've seen it. It proves how much of an impact Black Panther is having on society.

Black Panther is Now the Top-Grossing Superhero Film Domestically

Black Panther Sneakers Shuri

With regards to superhero movies, there's nothing bigger than Black Panther. The film officially topped The Avengers on March 24 to become the highest-grossing superhero movie at the U.S. box office, with an estimated $630 million to date. That number puts Black Panther above The Avengers, which earned $623.3 million when it released in 2012. It's also now in the top 5 top-grossing films ever to release domestically.

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