Georgia-filmed Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ dominated the box office in its 2022 debut. According to reports, the film earned over $180 million during the weekend, which is good news for Hollywood’s cinema industry. The sequel beat the record for a November opening in the United States, beating the previous record of $158 set by “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”. Worldwide, the film made $330 million, with $150 million coming from over 50 overseas markets.
It is important to note the movie was rewritten as a tribute to the late actor Chadwick Boseman who died in 2020 of cancer. The movie’s plot centers around the death of King T’Challa, and critics praised Ryan Cooler for handling the material. In addition to the previous leading actor passing away before the sequel, ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ was also filmed in the middle of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic.
How far will the film go? With the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the unlikelihood of ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ hitting theaters in China, it is rumored the movie will not surpass its $1.4 Billion record set in the original feature film.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is the second biggest domestic debut of 2022, behind “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”. It is also the third biggest movie in the pandemic era, behind Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’, which made $260 million.
Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical movie, ‘The Fabelman’s opened to a limited release and premiered in four theaters in New York City and Los Angeles, earning an average of $40,000 per screen.
“Black Adam” continued to grow in the box office with $8.6 million, pushing its domestic total to $151.1 million. Universal’s “Ticket to Paradise” a romantic comedy with Julia Roberts and George Clooney, earned $6.1 million. Finally, Paramount’s ‘Smile’ netted $2.3 million after costing only $17 million to make totaling to $102.8 million in the United States.
Theater owners have suffered in the pandemic era with meager ticket sales, which illustrates Disney’s ability to save the theater industry potentially.
