By Sunday, Black Panther was already the top-grossing film by a black director of all time, raking in an estimated $192 million. But as its three-day opening weekend draws to a close, the movie has shattered industry estimates of just how well it would do. The message to Hollywood should be extremely clear.
According to Indiewire, the movie can now boast the best February and pre-March opening weekend ever: The record was once held by Deadpool, but Black Panther beat it by a whopping $50 million. It tripled the record held by Straight Outta Compton for the initial weekend of a film by a primarily black cast. And it’s the biggest non- Star Wars opening debut since Jurassic World—which opened in June, a traditionally great month for movies—three years ago.
Sunday’s numbers alone marked the second-best Sunday ever at the American box office—second only to Star Wars: The Force Awakens—and if the numbers keep up through Monday, it may well become the second-biggest four-day opening of all time, according to Deadline.
It gets better, too: Indiewire says that even correcting for the advantages of a holiday weekend (and February isn’t great for movie releases), it’s still among the 10 best opening weekends ever. Even the soundtrack dropped at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
Much has already been written about the power of the movie—from the current of Afrofuturism that runs through it to its powerful depictions of black women, in particular. Afrofuturism draws upon African traditions to create a vibrant future of power, self-determination, and agency. “It finds a way to bridge the cultural aspects of the ancient African traditions with the potential of the future,” says director Ryan Coogler. “Just looking at Africans and African culture in that context is refreshing, you know, when you’re looking at it in the context that mainstream media tends to portray it.”
Added one moviegoer, Anne, this weekend: “This is something I felt was worthy of a celebration: black people having a future and black people having super powers and having that be a worldwide movie phenomenon. Having characters that go to Oxford and MIT, it’s not something you see. This to me feels like a celebration.”
Taken from GLAMOUR US. Click here to read the original.
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