Movie Buzz // Entertainment // EEW Magazine Online

The box office roared back to life with the long-awaited release of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

The Marvel sequel earned $180 million in ticket sales from more than 4,396 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to estimates from The Walt Disney Co. on Sunday, making it the second biggest opening of the year behind “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

Overseas, it brought in an additional $150 million from 50 territories, bringing its worldwide total to $330 million.

“Wakanda Forever” was eagerly anticipated by both audiences and exhibitors that have weathered a slow spell at the box office since the summer movie season ended, and there were fewer bigger budget blockbusters in the pipeline. The film got off to a mighty start, a bit stronger than even the first film, with an $84 million opening day, including $28 million from Thursday previews.

“This is the type of movie that theaters really need to drive audiences,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s senior media analyst.

The first film opened to $202 million in February 2018 and went on to gross over $1.4 billion worldwide, making it one of the highest grossing films of all time and a cultural phenomenon. A sequel was inevitable, and development began soon after with director Ryan Coogler returning, but everything changed after Chadwick Boseman’s unexpected death in August 2020.

“Wakanda Forever” became about the death of Boseman’s King T’Challa/Black Panther and the grieving kingdom he left behind.

Returning actors include Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Danai Gurira, who face off against a new foe in Tenoch Huerta’s Namor. The sequel follows the rulers of the African country as they cope with the loss of King T’Challa. When Wakanda faces an attack from an underwater kingdom led by Namor, Queen Ramonda (Bassett), Shuri (Wright) and Nakia (Nyong’o) must band together to save their country.

“These women seize the reins of what is less a typical Marvel movie, driven by light-and-magic effects, than an intricately doom-laden and engrossing geopolitical thriller,” Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote in his review of the film.

The blockbuster flick currently holds an 84% on Rotten Tomatoes and, as is often the case with comic book films, with the audience scores are even higher.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.