Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”It has brought the box office back from months of slump and made it one of the most successful weekends in 2022. The movie earned $180 million domestically from 4,396 theaters.
Combined with $150 million from 50 countries, Ryan Coogler’s sequel to his 2018 Best Picture Oscar-nominated superhero film has scored a global launch of $330 million. Only two other Marvel Cinematic Universe films have been released in the United States and internationally. “Spider-Man: No Way Home”($260 million dom./$601 millions WW) “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”Since the outbreak of the pandemic, openings have been higher at ($187.4 Million dom./$452 Million WW).
While critics reviews haven’t been quite as strong as the first “Black Panther,”They have been generally positive with an 84% Rotten Tomatoes score, while audience reception is even stronger with scores of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, 83% overall positive on Comscore/Screen Engine’s PostTrak and an A on CinemaScore.
These strong results are a testament to the power of these results “Wakanda Forever”It is performing exactly as theaters expected and sets the stage to a strong finish for 2022. Through the rest of November, it will serve as the main moneymaker as other films like Disney’s “Strange World,” Sony’s “Devotion” and Universal’s “The Fabelmans”Release.
It is not certain, however, whether “Wakanda Forever”You will be able join the group by extending your leg “No Way Home” “Top Gun: Maverick”It is the third pandemic-era global release to earn $1 billion. So far, it’s off to a solid start. Although the domestic opening is still 11% behind that of the first “Black Panther,”It is currently 4% ahead of its international counterparts in like-for-like market despite the fact that the first film opened in February during Presidents Day Weekend in the U.S.A and the Lunar New Year in Asia.
Though that Lunar New Year difference led to lower returns in some major markets like South Korea — which is also seeing a slowdown in entertainment spending after the Halloween tragedy in Seoul — Disney reported strong upticks from Friday to Saturday in Europe and Latin America, indicating strong word-of-mouth. Latin America in particular will be a region to observe in the coming weeks considering the film’s inclusion of Mesoamerican culture via the undersea kingdom of Talokan and its leader, Namor, played by newcomer Tenoch Huerta.
However, “Wakanda Forever”Internationally, there will be more challenges with the FIFA World Cup beginning next week “Avatar: The Way of Water” coming to theaters next month, though the latter won’t be a concern for Disney as that sequel is also on their slate.
Domestically, where is the first “Black Panther” earned $700 million, it also remains to be seen whether the film’s strong audience reception will lead to repeat viewings from moviegoers, considering that the film’s grappling with the death of lead star Chadwick Boseman gives it a much more mournful tone throughout than most hit blockbusters. However, word-of mouth should ensure that the film’s holdover numbers are strong until at least the opening of “Avatar 2”Dec. 16
“Wakanda Forever”It has increased domestic weekend totals to an industry-estimated 210 million. This figure is third for a 3-day weekend in this year’s history behind only the opening weekends. “Thor: Love and Thunder” “Jurassic World: Dominion”In the summer. It is the No. It accounts for approximately 85% of all theatrical revenues.
In a very distant second is Warner Bros./DC’s “Black Adam,”This film earned $8.6million in its fourth weekend, a drop of 55% owing to Marvel’s competition. While the DC movie has already crossed the $150 million domestic mark, it’s unlikely to surpass $400 million worldwide. Though not having a China release is a big factor in that, Dwayne Johnson’s big introduction to the DC Universe is likely to finish in the red due to its reported $195 million budget before marketing.
Universal’s “Ticket to Paradise”It’s doing better than its budget and taking $6.1 million in its fourth week to surpass the $150m mark ($56.5 million domestic) against its $60 million budget. Universal’s strategy for November is to release a series of films aiming for older audiences looking for blockbuster alternatives, releasing “The Fabelmans”This weekend, New York City and Los Angeles will witness a large Thanksgiving expansion. Also, the Harvey Weinstein investigation drama will be taking place “She Said” next weekend.
Sony’s “Lyle Lyle Crocodile” and Paramount’s “Smile”Completing the Top 5 is $3.2 million and $2.3 millions respectively “Lyle”In its sixth weekend, the domestic total was $40.8 million “Smile”After seven weekends, North America now boasts a total of $102 millions. Last weekend, “Smile”It reached the $200 million mark in worldwide sales and was named the highest-grossing horror film. Few expected that this $17 million original film would achieve such a high level of success.