The box office numbers are in and it looks like Black Panther has far surpassed the already high expectations set for the latest Marvel flick.
The Ryan Coogler-led movie is set to debut with a whopping $218 million over the President’s Day weekend, making it one of the biggest openings of all time in North America, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Black Panther was first projected to make between $100 million and $120 million in its opening weekend. Those projections were quickly re-adjusted to about $160 million right before its release this week. The movie still trounced these adjusted estimates.
With its record-shattering $192 million debut for the three-day weekend and a projected $218 million for the full four-day holiday, Black Panther is only second behind The Avengers as one of Marvel’s biggest debuts. The Avengers earned $207.4 million in its first three days, and Black Panther could still surpass The Avengers‘ four-day gross of $226.3 million depending on Sunday and Monday numbers.
The movie also had a successful debut worldwide, with African audiences taking special delight in dressing up for the viewing. The flick amassed about $169 million in its global debut.