American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Black Panther. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the sequel to Black Panther (2018) and the 30th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Directed by Ryan Coogler, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joe Robert Cole, the film stars Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Dominique Thorne, Michaela Coel, Tenoch Huerta, Martin Freeman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Angela Bassett. In the film, the leaders of Wakanda fight to protect their nation in the wake of King T'Challa's death.

Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is reigning over the box office.

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According to Variety, The superhero sequel earned $84 million from 4,396 locations on its opening day. That figures includes $28 million in Thursday previews, which marked the 15th-highest preview gross in history and bested the first “Black Panther’s” figure by $3 million. It’s also the second biggest opening day of the year, behind the $90.4 million earned by fellow Marvel Cinematic Universe entry “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

Estimates heading into the weekend suggested “Wakanda Forever” could net a gross between $185 million and $200 million in its opening, though some competitors are now projecting that the film will fall shy of that range. “Doctor Strange 2” has remained the biggest opening weekend of the year since it debuted with $187 million in May. Whether the “Black Panther” sequel can surpass it by Monday, Marvel is once again in competition with itself for box office superlatives.

The arrival of the “Black Panther” sequel represents a box office surge for a theatrical landscape that has been largely bereft of high-profile releases since the summer. To put things in perspective, “Wakanda Forever” will be the first movie since July’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” to open above $100 million. Even further, though Warner Bros. release “Black Adam” has drawn a substantial audience in recent weeks, “Wakanda Forever” looks to outgross the DC entry within its first three days of release. That’s how big a splash the film is making.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” follows the rulers of the African country as they cope with the loss of King T’Challa, played in the 2018 original by Chadwick Boseman. Boseman died of colon cancer in August 2020. When Wakanda faces an attack from an underwater kingdom led by Namor (Tenoch Huerta), Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o) must band together to save their country.

“These women seize the reins of what is less a typical Marvel movie, driven by light-and-magic effects, than an intricately doom-laden and engrossing geopolitical thriller,” Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote in his review of the film.

Reviews have been positive for “Wakanda Forever,” if not as glowing as its 2018 predecessor’s. The sequel currently holds a 76% approval rating from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences are proving to be even more receptive, with the film landing a shining “A” grade through research firm Cinema Score, indicating strong enthusiasm among moviegoers. That’s also a step up from Marvel’s two other releases this year, “Multiverse of Madness” and “Love and Thunder” — both of which landed positive, albeit subpar for Marvel, grades of “B+.”

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Sources: Variety