Black Panther: Wakanda Forever grossed $ 28M from Thursday’s previews.
Which began at 3 pm, outperforming Black Panther which grossed $ 25.2M in 2018. This is the third best result of 2022 after Doctor Strange 2 ($ 36M, -22%) and Thor: Love and Thunder ($ 29M, -3%). The film did better than The Batman ($ 21.6M, + 27%).
The average audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is 94%, the first film had 79%; the critics score is 85% versus 96% for the first film. Five stars on Screen Engine/Comscore, and is recommended by the general public by 83%.
Phase 4 Movie PostTrack Score:
Spider-Man: Far From Home – 90%
Black Widow – 88%
Shang Chi – 91%
Eternals – 77%
Spider-Man: No Way Home – 96%
Doctor Strange 2 – 82%
Thor: Love and Thunder – 77%
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – 92%
In the top grossing previews chart, the sequel finished in 15th place, surpassing Age of Ultron ($ 27.6M) and Batman v Superman ($ 27.7M).
As we all know, the collection of previews does not mathematically offer how much the film will earn in its run in theaters, but we can still get an idea:
$ 36M Doctor Strange 2 , first weekend $ 187.4M
$ 29M Thor: Love and Thunder , first weekend $ 144.2M
$ 28M Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
$ 21.6M The Batman , first weekend $ 134M
$ 19.3M Top Gun: Maverick , first ending week $ 126.7M
$ 18M Jurassic World: The Dominion , first weekend $ 145M
On Friday night the film will receive a rating from CinemaScore which could become the tip of the balance for the weekend’s predictions and how far the film can go.
Today the film is expected to get a boost in the US from Veterans Day (Friday) where it represents 80% of online sales. Yesterday Disney reported that with pre-sales for the weekend, the film surpassed $66M, compared to $85M for Doctor Strange 2 and $48M for Thor: Love and Thunder . Wakanda Forever is expected to bring in between $165M-$200M.
As for Thursday night’s audience, it consisted of: 42% Black, 22% Hispanic and Latino, 20% Caucasian, and 10% Asian; 34% men over 25, 26% women over 25, 25% men under 25, and 15% women under 25. Among children under 12, 61% boys, 39% girls.
International
Yesterday the film opened in 26 other territories. Box office in the 43 territories where it was distributed is $20.7M on Thursday, rising to $30.8M in two days. The highest takings were recorded in: France ($1.6M on Thu, -27.3% on Wed, total: $3.8M, average review is 3.2); Mexico ($3.1M); South Korea ($2.3M); Brazil ($2M); Australia ($1.8M); Indonesia ($1.7M), Germany ($550k on Thu, -38.9% on Wed, total: $1.4M).
The global gross up to Thursday is $ 58.8M.
Tracking is -16% compared to the opening of Black Panther , and + 26% compared to The Batman . Remember that Wakanda Forever will not be able to count on distribution in Russia and probably not even in China.
The rest of the box office
Ticket to Paradise crossed the $50M mark while horror film Smile crossed the $100M mark.
Black Adam : 3,985 theaters, Thursday $951k (-11% vs Wednesday), closes third week with $23.7M, total: $142.52M.
Ticket to Paradise : 4,066 theaters, Thursday $839k (-7% vs Wednesday), closes third week with $12.1M, total: $50.41M.
One Piece Film Red : 2,367 theaters, Thursday $320K (-25% vs Wednesday), closes first week with $11.1M.
Smile : 3,046 cinemas, Thursday $264k (-11% vs Wednesday), closes week 6 with $5.3M, total: $100.45M.
The Banshees of Inisherin : 895 theaters, Thursday $235k, total: $4.08M.
Prey for the Devil : 2,960 theaters, Thursday $228K (-16% vs Wednesday), closes second week with $5.1M, total: $14.95M.
Terrifier 2 : 1,245 theaters, closes the week with $ 1.51M, total: $ 10.15M.
TÁR : 1,090 theaters, ends the week with $1.11M, total: $4.18M.
Lyle Lyle Crocodile : Thursday $175k, total: $37.63M.
Till : Thursday $151k, total: $7.42M.
Triangle of Sadness : 487 theaters, ends the week with $648K, total: $3.27M.
Aftersun : 45 theaters, ends the week with $182k, total: $395k.