Black Panther: Wakanda Forever just set a new Marvel Cinematic Universe record by leading the domestic box office for the fifth weekend in a row.

The sequel to 2018's Black Panther maintained the top spot with an $11.1 million haul, according to data acquired by Variety. This brings Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's domestic total to $409 million, making it one of only three movies in 2022 to gross over $400 million. What's more, Wakanda Forever's five-week run atop the domestic box office charts crowns it the first MCU entry since the first Black Panther to achieve this feat. That said, the sequel still has a long way to go when it comes to matching its predecessor's overall commercial performance. Its current international earnings of $767.8 million are well below Black Panther's $1.3 billion.

Related: Black Panther 2 Hired a Full Time Animator for... Fish Poop

Marvel Studios is apparently eager for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever to recapture or even surpass the original movie's critical success, as well. Marvel Studios' parent company Disney recently updated its "For Your Consideration" website with the categories it would like to see the second Black Panther installment recognized for come the Oscars, including Best Picture. Other key categories listed include Best Actress (Letitia Wright), Best Supporting Actress (Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o), Best Supporting Actor (Winston Duke, Tenoch Huerta Mejía), Best Director (Ryan Coogler) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Coogler and Joe Robert Cole).

Black Panther 2 Editor Discusses Early 4.5 Hour Cut

Disney has also put forward editors Michael P. Shawver, Kelley Dixon and Jennifer Lame for their work on the film, which seems fitting given their impressive efforts wrangling the sequel's runtime. According to Shawver, an early cut of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever clocked in at four-and-a-half hours. "There were big parts that we had to take out before anyone else saw the movie," he said. Shawver added that much of the material removed from the 161-minute version of the film that hit theaters was set in the underwater kingdom of Talokan. This material was designed to develop the bond between Shuri and Riri Williams, something ultimately covered in scenes added during reshoots.

Related: Black Panther 2 Only Showed 10 Percent of Namor's Underwater Kingdom

Not all of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's deleted scenes took place underwater, though. Angela Bassett revealed in a recent interview that a scene between Queen Ramonda and her grandson, Toussaint (Love Konadu-Sun), also wound up on the cutting room floor. Bassett went on to say that she supported the decision to remove the scene, as it preserved the surprise of Toussaint's introduction during Wakanda Forever's post-credits scene.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is in cinemas now.

Source: Variety