'Black Panther' Is Now On Track For $165 Million Opening Weekend
Black Panther is making history.
Marvel Studios' Black Panther, which opens Friday in North America is gearing up to rake in a ton of money.
Hollywood's leading tracking service, NRG, revised its earlier predictions for the superhero flick Monday, estimating a new U.S. opening debut of $165 million or more for the Presidents Day weekend. Two weeks ago, NRG predicted a domestic opening of $125 million— a figure which has risen $150 million-plus within the past week.
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This is an unprecedented feat for a film featuring a largely all-black cast. According to The Hollywood Reporter, if NRG's prediction checks out, not accounting for inflation, Black Panther could become one of the top five or six domestic openings in history for a superhero film.
While Disney insiders reportedly expect Black Panther to open in the $75 million-$115 million range, the film could still have the fourth highest opening for a Marvel movie. The Avengers (2012) opened with $207.4 million, followed by Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) with $191.3 million, Captain America: Civil War (2016) with $179.1 million, and Iron Man 3 (2013) with $174.1 million.
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The film currently holds a 97 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, the best of any title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe filmography.