Black Panther: Wakanda Forever becomes second-highest debut of 2022

Marvel’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ dominated the domestic box office in its first weekend, bringing in $180 million and giving struggling theatres a much-needed boost.

According to Time, the Walt Disney Co estimates that over 4,396 cinemas in the United States and Canada sold $180 million in tickets for the Marvel movie on Sunday.

The sequel shattered the previous high-water mark record for a November opening in North America and surpassed The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’s $158 million USD from 2013.

Meanwhile, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘ record of $187.4 million USD for the biggest domestic box office debut of the year, is at No. 3 for the pandemic era record, behind the Doctor Strange sequel and Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s $260 million USD.

It was initially difficult for filmmaker Ryan Coogler and his crew to make Wakanda Forever since it deals with the loss of King T’Challa due to actor Chadwick Boseman’s passing in 2020.

Kevin Feige, the chairman of Marvel Studios, recently revealed that he and Boseman’s family had talked about making the third movie even after Boseman’s death.

He said: “I go back to what I said when we decided to make Wakanda Forever after losing Chad.

“This mythology and this ensemble and these characters deserve to continue and will continue after all of us are gone, I hope, and will continue forever in movies the way it has in comics for 50-plus years.”