I don’t know how many people went to see Black Panther on Thursday night, when the rest of the world finally got to be transported to Wakanda, but apparently it was a lot.
Deadline has projected that Marvel’s newest superhero flick will clear $25 million on opening night. That will mean that the movie will crush earlier estimates of $22 million to $22 million and be on track to either beat or tie Captain America: Civil War, which opened with $25 million as the second-best Marvel preview ever behind Avengers: Age of Ultron, which holds the record at $27.6 million.
That also means that Black Panther, which is easily one of the most highly anticipated films of the year (if not the most), also easily snatched the crown for the biggest presummer preview night ever, according to Deadline, putting movies like The Hunger Games and Deadpool to shame.
The movie also continues to be the biggest superhero ticket seller to date (per Fandango), with advanced ticket sales still going wild on the site. The movie is the fourth-biggest preseller of all time, behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. And ya know, when you’re ranked only behind Star Wars, one of the biggest media franchises of all time, you know you’re doing something right.
I, unfortunately, didn’t get to sneak in for opening night itself, but I’ll definitely be parked center-row center over the weekend for my own experience.
For the rest of you derelicts who haven’t gotten your tickets yet ... what exactly are you waiting on?