Marvel Studios' Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently on track for the second-best opening weekend box office of 2022. As reported by both Deadline, Wakanda Forever's opening weekend earnings are now between $175 million and $185 million, with projections suggesting that the sequel could pull in over $190 million in its first weekend in theaters. Not taking into account Thursday previews, Wakanda Forever earned $56 million on its opening night. Comparatively, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness pulled $54.7 million on its opening night.
According to box office analyst Gitesh Pandya, Wakanda Forever earned a total of $84 million on its opening night (Thursday previews included) which makes the sequel the tenth-highest opening day of all time, while the opening weekend projections of $175 million and $185 million would make the Black Panther sequel the second-best opening of the year behind Multiverse of Madness. This is in line with previous box office projections made about the film prior to its release which estimated it would earn anywhere between $175M to $200M in its first weekend at the domestic box office. This would make it just under the earnings of the first Black Panther which accumulated $202M in its first weekend.
Wakanda Forever Rises to the Top
Wakanda Forever made a strong start at the box office with $28 million in Thursday previews, quickly outpacing the $25.5M earned by the first Black Panther movie in 2018. At the time of writing, Wakanda Forever is the third-biggest preview night of the year, with fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe films Multiverse of Madness in first with $36M and Thor: Love and Thunder in second with $29M.
The first teaser for Wakanda Forever introduced Tenoch Huerta as Namor the Sub-Mariner, Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams/Ironheart and teased a new hero would take up the Black Panther mantle. As the film neared its theatrical release, the identity of the new Black Panther remained unconfirmed though there was speculation that Letitia Wright, who has portrayed Shuri, the younger sister of the late Chadwick Boseman's King T'Challa/Black Panther, in the MCU since 2018's Black Panther, will be the one beneath the mask. Wright was asked about her potential new role in the MCU during San Diego Comic-Con 2022. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said. "But November 11, you get your ticket."
Wakanda Forever began filming in Atlanta, GA on June 29, 2021, but production has paused several times since then due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The film serves as a sequel to 2018's Black Panther, which starred the late Boseman as King T'Challa/Black Panther. Wakanda Forever's plot was restructured following Boseman's death in 2020. Wakanda Forever sees Angela Bassett reprise her role as Queen Ramonda, Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Danai Gurira as Okoye and Martin Freeman as Everett Ross. The film also stars Michaela Coel, Mabel Cadena and Alex Livanalli.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is now in theaters.