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Black Panther just keeps on winning.
Over President’s Day weekend, the biggest, “Blackest” movie of the year shattered records with a three-day opening of $201.8 million. Once you include the holiday, the four-day take estimated is said to be at least $235 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
On Thursday night, the movie brought in $25.2 million alone, according to Variety, which is the most a Thursday night preview has ever grossed for a February release. For Marvel, that’s also the second-largest preview gross for all of its films. Pull in the weekend numbers, and you have the highest February release ever as well as the fifth-largest domestic release of all time.
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Weekend numbers are still being tallied, so Black Panther could go even higher. It’s already in the top four when it comes to four-day openings. It is currently outpaced by Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($241.6 million) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($288.1 million).
Breaking records
Black Panther has been racking up records even before it debuted. On Fandango, the ticket-selling website, the movie was the fastest-selling first-quarter film for pre-sales.
It also broke a record on the popular film review site Rotten Tomatoes, where the film debuted to a perfect 100 percent fresh score. That makes it the highest debut for a Marvel superhero film to date, according to the Daily Dot. With a current 98 percent “want to watch” rating score as well, the movie is riding high at the box-office.
Stars take the #BlackPantherChallenge
In addition to breaking records, Black Panther is shattering stereotypes and celebrating diversity and representation in Hollywood and beyond.
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The #BlackPantherChallenge, in which people step forward to help underserved communities and children, started with Frederick Joseph, who launched a GoFundMe campaign to help Harlem kids see the film for free. The campaign eventually exceeded its $10,000 goal within three days.
“I want these children to be able to see that people who look like them can be superheroes, royalty, and more,” said Joseph. “All proceeds will go to paying for the private screening tickets for children and chaperones, as well as refreshments. The release of the film is February 16th, 2018, and the screenings will take place the following week between February 19th and 22nd.”
Since then, other stars, from Octavia Spencer and Serena Williams to Kendrick Lamar and T.I. have come forward to take the challenge in their own ways.
Black Panther is in theaters now.