Long live the king, indeed! Early tracking places Marvel's Black Panther on a path for massive U.S. opening weekend of between $100 million and $120 million.RELATED: Marvel’s Black Panther Receives MPAA RatingThose numbers are comparable to Thor: Ragnarok, the third film in that Marvel Studios franchise. Black Panther will kick off the four-day Presidents' Day weekend next month, which could help to push current estimates even further, should word of mouth prove to be largely positive. Marvel appears to have confidence in director Ryan Coogler's film, as the review embargo lifts Feb. 6, a full 10 days ahead of release.

Should current projections hold, Black Panther would open ahead of Doctor Strange, which bowed with $86 million in 2016, and the first two Thor films, which came in well under $100 million in their opening weekends. That shouldn't be surprising, though. Demand for the film has been high, and some fans have even been organzing special viewings for children in their neighborhoods who may not otherwise be able to attend, courtesy of the Black Panther Challenge, started by Frederick Joseph, who was surprised by star Chadwick Boseman and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres for his efforts.

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Directed by Ryan Coogler from a script he wrote with Joe Robert Cole, Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue, and Forest Whitaker as Zuri. The Marvel Studios film arrives in theaters on Feb. 16.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)