Black Panther’s steady ascent at the box office argues that Wakanda might, indeed, be forever. The film has crushed milestone after milestone, and today it adds another accolade to its hoard. Black Panther had the best first week of any Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, ever — and by a decent margin.
The film has taken in $292 million domestically so far — that’s $22 million more than the previous record holder, The Avengers. Worldwide, Black Panther has amassed an impressive $520 million. If that doesn’t sound impressive yet, consider the statistics.
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According to Variety, Black Panther’s domestic haul has helped pull the United States box office up by 7.2% to an overall $1.69 billion. While Black Panther will almost certainly experiences some drop-off in its second week, one thing is for certain: It has already left its mark on the superhero movie genre and, more importantly, the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole.
In theaters now, Black Panther is directed by Ryan Coogler and stars Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa/Black Panther, Michael B. Jordan as N’Jadaka/Erik “Killmonger” Stevens, Lupita Nyong’o as Nakia, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Martin Freeman as Everett K. Ross, Daniel Kaluuya as W’Kabi, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Angela Bassett as Ramonda, Forest Whitaker as Zuri and Andy Serkis as Ulysses Klaue.