Marvel's 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Tracking For Huge Second Biggest Opening Of 2022

While it is likely not surprising that the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe sequel, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," is expected to have a huge opening weekend, Deadline reports that tracking service NRG  currently estimates that the film will open with a sizable $175 million for its opening weekend.

If the data holds, that would give the sequel the second biggest box office opening weekend of 2022. The first one also went to Disney and Marvel Studios with "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness," released earlier in May with an opening weekend of $187.4 million.

The original "Black Panther" film opened to $202 million when it was released in February 2018. The film went on to gross $700 million at the domestic box office and $1.3 billion worldwide. Deadline reports that while ticket sales on the sequel have been good thus far, they are not the best of the year to date. However, the movie is said to be tracking well across all demos, and it is said to be "over-indexing with Black moviegoers."

The current tracking data puts the film well ahead of current data analytics for Warner Bros. and DC's own comic book superhero film, "Black Adam," which opens wide in theaters on Friday, October 21. Earlier this week, DC's "Black Adam" was tracking at about $135 million for its opening weekend. That's for a worldwide global take, not domestic like with the current data for "Wakanda Forever."

Ryan Coogler returns as writer and director of the upcoming sequel, which sees the heroes of Wakanda fighting to protect their nation from world powers following the death of King T'Challa, aka the Black Panther. The late king's allies now must find a new path for their kingdom as they face a new threat in Namor, the king of Talokan, who is bringing a war to Wakanda.

"Wakanda Forever" will be a reset for the franchise as a new hero will assume the mantle of Wakanda's protector. The latest trailer offered a full view of the new Panther, but the hero's identity has not yet been revealed.

https://youtu.be/_Z3QKkl1WyM

The film sees the return of Angela Bassett as Queen Ramonda, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Danai Gurira as Okoye, Lupita Nyong'o as Nakia, and Martin Freeman as Everett Ross. Joining the cast are Tenoch Huerta as Namor and Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, aka the new hero Ironheart.

The original franchise star, Chadwick Boseman, tragically passed away in August 2020 after his battle with colon cancer. He was 43 years old. Marvel Studios opted not to recast the role of T'Challa, with Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige telling Empire recently, "It just felt like it was much too soon to recast."

Boseman portrayed T'Challa/Black Panther in multiple films before his passing, including "Captain America: Civil War," "Avengers: Infinity War," and "Avengers: Endgame." He also voiced the character in multiple episodes of the animated series, "What If...?," which is available to stream now on Disney+.

The Walt Disney Company posthumously inducted Boseman as a Disney Legend last month at the D23 Expo during the 2022 induction ceremony, with his brother Derrick Boseman accepting the award on his late brother's behalf.

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" hits theaters on November 11, 2022. Deadline reports that the film's world premiere is scheduled for Wednesday, October 26 in Hollywood.