The film doesn't come out until November 11, but prognosticators say Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is already on track to have the second-biggest opening of the year.
According to data from the National Research Group (NRG), the sequel could see a $175 million opening weekend, putting it slightly behind 2022's biggest debut, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. That film earned more than $184 million, on its way to a more than $955 million global take.
The Black Panther sequel has big shoes to fill, both thematically and financially: The sequel will be the first Panther film without lead Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer in 2020, and 2018's original earned more than $242 million on its four-day opening weekend, going on to become a $1.34-billion grossing phenomenon.
The biggest opening film of all time is 2019's Avengers: Endgame, which earned more than $347 million in its first days in theaters. In 2021, the Marvel Studios/Sony Pictures collab Spider-Man: No Way Home earned the second-biggest debut slot with a global take of more than $260 million.
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