Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is on track to have a massive opening weekend, which could even break two of 2022's records. The film sees a Wakanda in mourning following the death of King T'Challa and features the arrival of a new Black Panther, as well as the introduction of Namor and his underwater kingdom Talokan.
Per Variety, Wakanda Forever is expected to bring in a huge $175 million at minimum over its first three days. The publication puts the higher end of the estimate at between $185 to $200 million, which could see it sail past Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' opening weekend – that film drew in $187 million.
At the moment, Doctor Strange 2 holds two 2022 records that could soon belong to the Black Panther sequel: the biggest domestic debut of the year, as well as the MCU's biggest debut of 2022. Thor: Love and Thunder netted $144 million over its opening weekend, while Top Gun: Maverick, which has since become the highest grossing film of the year, scored $126 million.
If Wakanda Forever does end up scoring the biggest debut of the year, its only competition would come in the form of Avatar: The Way of Water – which coincidentally also features an underwater realm. That film arrives this December.
As Variety notes, though, if Black Panther 2 doesn't quite hit those projected highs, even netting the lower predictions would be huge: only 14 movies have ever scored $175 million or more in just one weekend.
Black Panther 2 also looks likely to be a hit overseas, with an extra $155 to $195 million expected from its international release. Variety predicts the film will cross the $350 million mark globally as early as Sunday, its third day of release.
The first Black Panther movie is the third highest grossing movie of all time, with an overall total of $1.3 billion.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in theaters this November 11. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and TV shows for everything else coming soon from the MCU.
