Director/writer Ryan Coogler‘s Black Panther, as of this weekend, has officially become the highest-grossing superhero film in North America, taking the title from another Disney/Marvel tentpole, The Avengers.
According to hollywoodreporter.com, the Chadwick Boseman/Lupita Nyong’o/Michael B. Jordan starrer achieved the milestone on Saturday after passingThe Avengers, $623.4 million gross from 2012. Black Panther is also only one of seven films to ever earn $600 million or more domestically, finishing Sunday with $630.9 million, putting it at No. 5 on the all-time list.Black Panther finished the weekend with $1.237 billion in ticket sales internationally, surpassing Iron Man 3 ($1.214 billion) to rank as the No. 3 superhero title of all time at the worldwide box office, just behind Avengers ($1.518 billion) and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.405 billion). Black Panther finished in second-place overall in its sixth weekend with $17 million in sales, behind the newly-released Pacific Rim: Uprising, which earned approximately $28 million in its debut weekend.
Danai Gurira, Florence Kasumba “Black Panther”(Photo by Marvel/Disney/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock) by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (@lakinhutcherson) “Black Panther” continues to dominate the North-American box office for the fourth weekend in a row, earning $41.1 million , according to Variety.com. In second place is the Ava DuVernay‘s family-friendly fantasy adventure “A Wrinkle in Time” with $33.5 million, not only giving Disney the two top movies for the weekend, but the first weekend in box office history where the top two movies are directed by African-Americans.
With $562 million in 24 days, “Black Panther” is now the seventh-highest domestic grosser of all time. It’s the first film since “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” to lead the North American box office for four straight weekends and it’s grossed $1.08 billion worldwide, 21st highest of all time. The Ryan Coogler tentpole is the 33rd movie to gross $1 billion. It’s the 16th Disney film to reach this milestone, and the fifth Marvel film to do so — joining the ranks of “The Avengers,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Iron Man 3,” and “Captain America: Civil War.”
(Image via Marvel/Disney) by Dave McNary via Variety.com
Disney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” is continuing its super-heroic run, grossing a stunning $501.1 million in North America in only 17 days and becoming the 10th highest grosser of all time.
“Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman, dominated domestic moviegoing in its third weekend with $65.7 million at 4,084 locations — the third-highest weekend of all time after “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at $90.2 million and “Avatar” at $68.5 million.
“Black Panther” is now the second-highest grossing Marvel movie of all time at the domestic box office, surpassing “Avengers: Age of Ultron” this weekend at $459 million and trailing only “The Avengers” at $623.4 million. “Black Panther” has a realistic shot at reaching that level in the coming weeks and may eventually top “Jurassic World” at $652 million and “Titanic” at $659 million for the third highest domestic total of all time.
Two new titles opened with moderate results that might have been higher without a must-see title like “Black Panther” in multiplexes. Jennifer Lawrence’s spy thriller “Red Sparrow” launched with $17 million at 3,056 sites for Fox and Bruce Willis’ “Death Wish” debuted with $13 million at 2,847 venues for MGM.
Warner Bros.’ second weekend of comedy thriller “Game Night” followed in fourth with $10.7 million from 3,502 sites, edging Sony’s fourth weekend of CGI-live action “Peter Rabbit” with $10 million at 3,607 locations. “Peter Rabbit” has connected with family audiences for $84 million in its first 24 days.
Paramount’s second weekend of “Annihilation” finished in sixth with $5.7 million at 2,112 venues, followed by Sony’s 11th weekend of its sturdy action comedy “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” with $4.5 million at 2,313 sites. “Jumanji” has now grossed $393.2 million in 75 days. Source: http://variety.com/2018/film/box-office/black-panther-box-office-dominates-red-sparrow-death-wish-1202716966/
(Image Courtesy Disney/Marvel) by Dave McNary via Variety.com Disney-Marvel’s Black Panther is dominating the box office with an astounding $108 million at 4,020 North American locations — the second-highest second weekend ever behind “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” Black Panther, starring Chadwick Boseman, has now grossed $400 million domestically in its first 10 days. Only “The Force Awakens” has reached that milestone faster. It’s also grossed $304 million internationally.
The superhero film, the 18th in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, declined only 46% from its opening Friday-Sunday — underlining the film’s massive appeal among moviegoers. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” set the second weekend record with $149 million in 2015, and Black Panther topped the second weekends of 2015’s “Jurassic World” at $106.6 million, and 2012’s “The Avengers” with $103 million. Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler, has caught on with moviegoers this month in a way that few other titles have in Hollywood’s recent history — blowing past last month’s tracking that showed it would open in the $100 million to $120 million range. It’s notched an A+ Cinemascore — becoming only the second Marvel film to do so — and has dazzled critics with a 97% “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film also stars Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya and Letitia Wright.
ComScore’s PostTrack-Screen Engine scores of the audience for the second weekend show support among moviegoers far above average with 69% rating the film as “excellent” and another 23% as “very good.” And it’s done so outside the traditional summer and holiday season corridors for blockbusters, noted Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore.
“Black Panther continues to elevate the month of February to summer-style blockbuster status with a second weekend that represents only the third time that a film has posted a $100 million plus weekend performance during the month (behind only its $202 million debut and ‘Deadpool’s’ $132 million opening in 2016),” he said. “And with a North American cume through Sunday of $400 million, it is the highest grossing film ever released in the month after just 10 days in theaters beating the long-standing $370.3 million record held by 2004’s ‘The Passion of The Christ.’”
Demographics of the second-weekend audience were 33% African-American, 37% Caucasian, 18% Hispanic, 7% Asian and 5% others, according to comScore. The opening weekend was 37% African-American, 35% Caucasian, 18% Hispanic, 5% Asian and 5% other. To read more, go to: http://variety.com/2018/film/box-office/black-panther-box-office-game-night-1202709952/
by Dave McNary via Variety.comDisney-Marvel’s “Black Panther” is re-writing the record books, topping “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” for the second-highest four-day domestic opening of all time, with $242 million at 4,020 North American locations.The superhero pic set a record for top Monday domestic gross ever, with $40.2 million, edging the previous high set by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at $40.1 million. The Monday total came in $7 million above the studio’s projections and lifted the four-day haul to $242 million.
“Black Panther” has grossed the second-highest four-day total of all time, behind only “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at $288.1 million and $400,000 ahead of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
Disney also reported Tuesday that the international total has reached $184.6 million to lift the worldwide take to $426.6 million, led by South Korea at $27.1 million and the U.K. at $26.7 million.
The tentpole, starring Chadwick Boseman and directed by Ryan Coogler, has blown past its original tracking. The film, which carries an estimated $200 million production budget, had been tracking to bring in between an impressive $100 and $120 million when first projections emerged on Jan. 25.
Since then, “Black Panther” has become a must-see event as it’s veered into record-setting territory and has continued to shatter all projections since then. It has the highest three-day debut ever for a February film and the fifth-biggest of all time behind only “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at $248 million, “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” at $220 million, “Jurassic World” at $208.8 million, and “The Avengers” at $207.4 million.
“Black Panther” has demolished the record for the largest Presidents Day weekend, blowing past “Deadpool’s” 2016 mark of $152 million. Source: http://variety.com/2018/film/news/black-panther-box-office-tops-star-wars-last-jedi-1202704917/
“Black Panther” (Courtesy of Marvel Studios)In a defining moment for Hollywood, Disney and Marvel Studios‘ Black Pantherexploded at the Presidents Day box office, bounding to a record-shattering estimate of $192 million for the three-day weekend and a projected $218 million-plus for the four-day holiday frame.
The Ryan Coogler-directed movie — unprecedented in being a big-budget studio tentpole featuring a virtually all-black cast — secured the fifth-biggest domestic opening of all time after blasting past all expectations. It’s also the best launch of any superhero film behind fellow Marvel title The Avengers (2012), which earned $207.4 million in its first three days, not accounting for inflation.
The weekend isn’t over, however, and Black Panther could climb even higher. Many rival studios show a four-day total of $222 million to $225 million, as well as a higher three-day total in the $195 million range.
Other records broken include that of the biggest opening for an African-American director, the top-scoring superhero film on Rotten Tomatoes (97 percent) and the biggest February bow, supplanting previous champ Deadpool, which took in $152.2 million over the four-day Presidents Day weekend in 2016.
Playing in 4,020 theaters, Black Panther was fueled by a diverse audience. According to comScore, 37 percent of ticket buyers were African-American. Caucasians made up the next largest group (35 percent), followed by Hispanics (18 percent). That sort of demographic breakdown is unheard of for a marquee superhero tentpole. On average, African-Americans make up about 15 percent of the audience for such fare.
“There are seven billion people on this planet and they come from all walks of life. Audiences deserve to see themselves reflected on the big screen. Beyond being the right thing to do, it makes for richer storytelling,” says Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis.
Adds Imax Entertainment CEO Greg Foster, “Representation matters. Get Out, Wonder Woman, Coco and now Black Panther show Hollywood that authenticity and inclusiveness wins.” Black Panther, which cost $200 million to make before marketing, was a bold move on the part of Disney and Marvel’s Kevin Feige.
In the film, Chadwick Boseman stars as T’Challa/Black Panther alongside Lupita Nyong’o, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Andy Serkis. The story, described as a tale of black power and black pride in addition to its superhero themes, follows T’Challa as he is sworn in as king of Wakanda, a cloaked, technologically advanced nation in Africa that is home to the exotic metal vibranium, the source of Black Panther’s powers.
Audiences bestowed Black Panther with an A+ CinemaScore (the only other Marvel title to earn the mark was Avengers). Black Panther hits theaters almost a year after Jordan Peele‘s maverick horror film Get Out transformed into a box-office sensation, although that was a genre pic. And in summer 2017, filmmaker Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman, featuring a female protagonist, became the highest-grossing live-action film from a female director.
Overseas — where American films with a black cast can face challenges — Black Panther opened in virtually every major market save for Russia (Feb. 22), Japan (March 1) and China (March 9). The movie earned a mighty $169 million for an estimated global bow of $387 million through Monday, including a hefty $52 million from Imax locations around the world. Black Panther came in ahead of expectations overseas, but certainly not to the extent it did in North America. Still, it secured the fifteenth-biggest international opening of all time, opening No. 1 in almost every territory. South Korea led with $25.3 million, the fifth-biggest start ever for a Western title. The U.K./Ireland followed with a $24.8 million launch, the best showing of any Marvel title behind Avengers: Age of Ultron and eclipsing the entire runs of Justice League, Ant-Man and the first installments in the Captain America and Thor franchises.
In North America, the only movies that dared to open nationwide opposite Black Panther were Lionsgate and Aardman Animation’s family film Early Man and PureFlix’s faith-based pic Samson. Early Man placed No. 7 with an estimated four-day gross of $4.2 million from 2,492 theaters, while Samson came in No. 11 with an estimated $2.4 million from 1,249 cinemas. Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/weekend-box-office-black-panther-bounds-record-shattering-218m-debut-1085932
(images by Àsìkò, Disney/Marvel) by Ricky Riley via blavity.com
With just a few more days until its release, Marvel‘s next installment into their cinematic universe, Black Panther, has already started shaping the imaginations of a generation of kids.
London-based Nigerian photographer Àsìkò, who goes by @asiko_artist on social media, decided to highlight this by recreating the sensational character posters with kids inspired by the film. Àsìkò shared a few individual pictures from the series on Instagram and wrote about why Black Panther matters and what it means to him as comic lover.
“As a kid who read comics black panther was one of the very few superheroes I came across,” he wrote. “For a child it is a beautiful thing to see yourself represented in a positive light in pop culture. What is also great is that it’s a hero steeped in culture and heritage and not drug deals or street thugging.”
“The images are inspired by the movie character posters and will be displayed at the BFI on its opening film night this Friday evening,” he added.
Àsìkò wrote that the photos were commissioned by the Talent Agency @lookslikemeuk. On his page, he posted a series of pictures featuring young kids channeling characters from the film, along with captions that include moving letters from fans on why black representation in film matters. To read more, go to: https://blavity.com/these-awesome-kids-channelled-their-inner-black-panther-to-recreate-posters-for-the-film
Tiffany Haddish is one of four women being honored at the March 1, 2018 event in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File) (Associated Press)
by Associated Press via washingtonpost.com
NEW YORK — “Girls Trip” changed the game for Tiffany Haddish, and now she’s being honored as one of Essence Magazine’s “game-changers” at its annual “Black Women in Hollywood” awards.
“Girls Trip” was one of last year’s big hits and made Haddish a breakout star. The comedian is one of four women being honored at the March 1 event in Beverly Hills, California. “The Chi” creator and “Master of None” star Lena Waithe will also be celebrated; she became the first black woman to win an Emmy for comedy writing last year. Danai Gurira of “The Walking Dead” stars in the upcoming “Black Panther.” Gurira also created the Tony-nominated “Eclipsed,” among other works. Tessa Thompson broke new ground in her role in last fall’s superhero hit “Thor.”
Essence magazine editor Vanessa De Luca says the honorees are “raising their voices to benefit all women.” Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/celebrities/essence-honors-game-changers-haddish-waithe-among-others/2018/02/06/54083e84-0b46-11e8-998c-96deb18cca19_story.html?utm_term=.ad9ee8c26f95
