Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has record breaking opening weekend

Letitia Wright as Shuri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever — (Image credit: Disney/Marvel)

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever had a record-breaking opening weekend at the box office. The Marvel movie was projected to win big, though it didn't quite reach the higher end of estimates.

Per AP News, the Black Panther sequel brought in $180 million in estimated domestic ticket sales, with a further $150 million from overseas. That makes $330 million altogether. That's the second-highest opening weekend of 2022, trailing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness's $185 million domestic (and $450 million total) result. It's also the highest ever opening for a film released in November, beating 2013's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (H/T The Hollywood Reporter).

In comparison, fellow MCU movie Thor: Love and Thunder won $144 million domestically over its opening weekend, while Top Gun: Maverick – which has since become the highest grossing film of the year – brought in $126 million.

The first Black Panther, released in February 2018, scored a $202 million domestic total across its opening weekend, ultimately grossing $1.4 billion worldwide. It's the fourteenth highest grossing film of all time.

Wakanda Forever sees the titular nation in mourning following the death of King T'Challa, reflecting the loss of Chadwick Boseman. Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Angela Bassett, and Winston Duke return to their roles, while Dominique Thorne makes her MCU debut as Riri Williams, AKA the future Ironheart, and Tenoch Huerta joins the line-up as Namor, ruler of the underwater realm of Talokan.

For much more on Wakanda Forever, check out our spoilery deep dives on:

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ending explained
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever post-credits scene explained
Who is the new Black Panther?
All the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Easter eggs listed
Everything we know about Black Panther 3
When is Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on Disney Plus?
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on the Marvel timeline
All the new Marvel movies and shows coming soon
Our guide to Marvel Phase 5

I'm a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site's Total Film section. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.