Black Panther Smashes past Deadpool, Star Wars, and other blockbusters with a massive President’s Day Monday

By JAKE COYLE, AP Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — With a massive $40.2 million in ticket sales Monday, “Black Panther” has set another box-office record: biggest Monday ever.

The Walt Disney Co. again raised its box-office estimates for the Marvel sensation on Tuesday. The film’s updated Monday performance — $7 million higher than Disney earlier forecast — narrowly topped the previous record, set by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” in 2015 with $40.1 million.

The higher Monday figure gives “Black Panther” the second biggest four-day weekend, behind only the $288.1 million of “The Force Awakens.” With $242 million over the Presidents’ Day weekend, “Black Panther” moves ahead of December’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in the ranks of four-day starts.

Ryan Coogler’s film, starring Chadwick Boseman, is the first big-budget tent pole release featuring a nearly all-black cast. The movie’s three-day gross of $201.8 million ranks fifth highest of all time, not accounting for inflation.

Internationally, “Black Panther,” which cost $200 million to make, is also outperforming earlier estimates. It has made $184.6 million overseas thus far, giving it a worldwide total of $426.6 million.

More Stats

Here are some more records Black Panther smashed:

Record for Largest…

• February Opening Weekend – $202M

  • (Previously held by Deadpool at $132.4M)

• Winter Season Opening Weekend – $202M

  • (Previously held by Deadpool at $132.4M)

• President’s Day Weekend Opening – $242.2M

  • (Previously held by Deadpool at $152.2M)

• February Thursday Preview – $40M

  • (Previously held by Deadpool at $12.7M)

Source: BoxOfficeMojo.com

Could Black Panther Join the Marvel Big 4?

With these numbers, it’s definitely possible to see Black Panther join Marvel’s top movies of all time, joining the likes of The Avengers ($1.51 billion), Age of Ultron ($1.41 billion), Iron Man 3 ($1.22 billion), and Captain America: Civil War ($1.15 billion). Interestingly enough, like the aforementioned movies which all featured the incredibly popular Iron Man character to some extent, the protagonist of Black Panther follows in some of the same footsteps.

Born into a position of power? Check. Incredible genius-level talent? Check. Has an awesome exosuit? Check. Let’s hope that Black Panther follows through with even more movies as well!

If you watched the movie, what did you think of it? Was Black Panther all the hype made it out to be? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Read what others are saying about Black Panther here:

Celebrities are Raving Over Black Panther

Read our article on the rave reviews Celebrities are giving Black Panther here

Also read the NYTimes article on Black Panther here

Ever wondered which Marvel Character you were? If so, then you can find out by taking our Marvel Character Quiz here!

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