In a surprise to absolutely no one,Black Panthercontinues to dominate the box office in its second weekend. The Marvel Studios film opened way above expectations, scoring the fifth-highest opening weekend ever and the second-highest for a Marvel Studios movie behindMarvel’s The Avengers. In its first week, however, the film began outpacingThe Avengers, and indeed things are looking way, way up asBlack Pantherscored an estimated $28.8 million on Friday, on track for an estimated three-day weekend of $104 million.
Black Pantherhas already surpassed the worldwide grosses of MCU moviesThor,Captain America: The First Avenger,Ant-Man, and its domestic total—in just two weeks of release, mind you—is higher thanThor: Ragnarok’s entire domestic run of $314 million.Ragnarokwent on to gross $853.5 million worldwide, so it’ll be incredibly interesting to see whereBlack Pantherends up—$1 billion feels like lowballing it.
As for this second weekend performance, givenBlack Panther’s tendency to break records, here are the Top 5 second weekend grosses ever:
1.Star Wars: The Force Awakens- $149,202,860
2.Jurassic World- $106,588,440
3.Marvel’s The Avengers- $103,052,274
4.Beauty and the Beast (2017)- $90,426,717
5.Avengers: Age of Ultron- $77,746,929
BestingAge of Ultronseems like a given at this point, at the very least, but can it leap ahead ofJurassic Worldto take the #2 spot? We’ll find out, but keep in mind that Sunday estimates last weekend were low, so it may be Monday before we get a complete read on this weekend’s performance.
ButBlack Pantherisn’t the only movie in theaters right now.Ex MachinafilmmakerAlex Garland’s ambitious sci-fi adaptationAnnihilationopened to $3.8 million, which isn’t terribly surprising. The film has been hailed by critics as a sci-fi masterpiece, but most have agreed that this is not exactly an easy commercial play. Indeed, the movie netted a C CinemaScore (which is higher than some were predicting), but if you’re a cinephile, odds are you’re going to enjoy the hell out of this thought-provoking thriller. Kudos to Paramount Pictures for having the gall to greenlight films as bold as this and last year’smother!, even if audiences don’t always respond.
The studio has already offset a lot of its costs, however, as it struck a deal to distributeAnnihilationon Netflix internationally. So if you’re in the U.S., this opportunity to see this movie in a bona fide theater is a rarity. Take advantage of it!
On the flip side, the action-comedyGame Nightis both a critical and commercial hit. The second directorial effort fromVacationfilmmakersJohn Francis DaleyandJonathan Goldstein—who co-wroteSpider-Man: Homecomingand are currently in negotiations to directFlashpointfor DC/Warner Bros.—scored an impressive $5.6 million on Friday. This thing should have legs as it’s a crowdpleaser through and through, and I can attest it’s pretty much the perfect date movie. It’s tons of fun, thrilling, and really funny with a fantastic ensemble cast. As a bonus, it’s genuinely cinematic, which is a rarity in the comedy genre. As evidenced by its B+ CinemaScore, audiences came away satisfied.
We’ll have a better idea of just how highBlack Pantherwill climb tomorrow so check back then for weekend estimates. For now, the top Friday estimates are below.
Black Panther
$28,858,000
$320,812,422
Game Night
$5,600,000
Annihilation
$3,860,000
Peter Rabbit
$2,845,000
$61,590,702
Fifty Shades Freed
$2,300,000
$84,945,780
