‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ is expected to pull in at least $175 million in its opening weekend in North America, per NRG tracking data.
Black Panther made history when it debuted to $202 million domestically in February 2018.
Sony and Marvel’s ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ opened to $260.1 million in December 2021, the second-biggest domestic debut of all time behind Marvel and Disney’s ‘Avengers: Endgame’ ($357.1 million).
‘Wakanda Forever’ was pushed back following the untimely death of its lead star Chadwick Boseman, with Marvel honouring him by not recasting his role of T’Challa.
“Ryan (Coogler) wrote something that so honoured the truth of what every one of us was feeling, those of us who knew Chadwick,” actress Lupita Nyong’o says. “He created something that could honour that and carry the story forward. By the end, I was weeping.”
“That is not the death of the Black Panther, that’s the whole point,” she says of the decision to not recast him. “It’s laying to rest [T’Challa] and allowing for real life to inform the story of the movies. I know that there are all sorts of reasons why people want him to be recast, but I don’t have the patience. I don’t have the presence of mind, or I don’t have the objectivity to argue with that. I don’t. I’m very biased.”
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ hits cinemas on the 11th of November, 2022.
