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‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Draws in $330 Million at the Global Box Office

Music Observer Staff on November 21, 2022

Another blockbuster film for Ryan Coogler.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever debuted with $180 million at the national box office, according to Comscore. It’s the second-highest opening for 2022, right behind another Marvel masterpiece, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

The latter opened in May with a $185 million blockbuster.

Overall, the sequel grossed $330 million at the international box office. Meanwhile, the first installment previously broke box office records in 2018, earning $218 million over the weekend.

As a result, it became the highest-grossing superhero film in the US Worldwide. Additionally, it made a gross profit of $1.3 billion.

Wakanda Forever brings most of the original crew and cast with it. Lupita Nyong’o, Letitia Wright, Danai Gurira and Angela Bassett reprise their roles. The film tells of the Wakandans after the death of King T’Challa (late Chadwick Boseman).

It also introduces a new character, Namor (Tenoch Huerta), from the mythical underwater kingdom of Atlantis. The sequel comes in honor of Boseman, who died of colon cancer in 2020. He was 43.

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Wakanda Forever Treasures Boseman

But Wakanda Forever didn’t recast Boseman. Another character has the Black Panther cape instead.

“It’s my job as a filmmaker to do things that I have personal integrity with,” Coogler said in an interview with EW about paying tribute to the late actor’s legacy. 

“If I don’t believe in what I’m doing, I’m going to have a hard time getting other people to do their best work. For them to do their best work, they have to believe in it. At the end of the day, the choices we make have to feel truthful to me.” 

He added: “When filmmakers make things that don’t feel truthful to them, you can feel it.” 

“And I will argue that those projects don’t have a shot at working.” 

Meanwhile, Black Adam remained at the top of the box office for four consecutive weeks in second place. It’s earning an extra $8.6 million. Another week took the superhero film’s total to $151 million. 

In third place is Ticket to Paradise, drawing in an additional $6.1 million. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile and Smile completed the top 5. The former earned an extra $3.2 million while the latter $2.3. 

Film Success

Black Panther is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Furthermore, it is the 18th movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

The film follows T’Challa taking over the kingdom of Wakanda after his father’s death. However, Killmonger (Jordan) challenges him. The Killmonger wants to leave the country’s isolation policies behind and start a revolution. 

In 1992, Wesley Snipes wanted to produce a Black Panther movie. However, the project did not pull through. And in September 2005, Marvels Studios added a Black Panther film to the roster of ten movies inspired by Marvel characters. 

The studio hired Mark Bailey to write a script in January 2011. And in 2014, Black Panther was finally announced. Boseman then appeared as the character in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. 

Additionally, the film marks the first time Marvel Studios installed a Black director and a Black cast.

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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Stars Pay Tribute to Chadwick Boseman

Music Observer Staff on August 1, 2022

In the production of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, and Letitia Wright wanted to honor their co-star Chadwick Boseman.

The crowd went wild as the actors dominated Hall H at Comic-Con in San Diego on Saturday, revealing a trailer for their most awaited Marvel sequel.

After their performance, the actors sat down with EW and discussed why it was vital for them to get the movie right. On top of everything, according to them, they expect Wakanda Forever will honor Boseman, who was killed in August 2020 at 43 due to colon cancer. 

“The most important thing, of course, was honoring our brother, our leader, and our king,” Gurira said in the interview with EW. 

“That was definitely at the forefront of our minds and our spirits and our hearts. There was this amazing impact that the first Black Panther had, so the need, I think, was to really solidify that these characters and this world have an arc. It wasn’t a one-time momentous thing.”

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Black Panther First Movie: A Manual Wakanda Forever Should Follow

The stars are looking to carry on their legacy and make Wakanda Forever just as fantastic as the first film – which smashed box office records and marked the first time a Marvel movie was nominated for the Oscars for Best Picture. 

Their goal was to broaden the scope of Panther’s first theme, venture into new areas and strengthen character arcs, said Gurira. 

“It’s also important to let go of any expectation that this movie will be Black Panther 1,” Duke chimed in. 

“This is going to be its own thing. This narrative has evolved, and it’s changed, just like all the characters and the circumstances of Wakanda itself. For me, in particular, I just had to let go of the expectation of this being anything like the first movie and allow this movie to be its own thing.” 

The cast for Wakanda Forever is already known, but it just got bigger, with a new addition – Gurira, Nyong’o, Duke, Wright, and Florence Kasumba. In addition, Tenoch Huerta plays fabled ruler Namor alongside Mabel Cadena and Alex Livinalli, portraying the characters of Namora and Attuma. 

The movie will also see the debut of Michaela Coel as Aneka and Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams, an excellent teenage tech inventor who will later be featured in her own Disney+ series, Ironheart. 

“It was very surreal for me to jump on this train,” Livinalli stated. “It didn’t feel like it was a sequel. It felt like it was its own thing, and I felt very welcome. I felt like I was part of the family.” 

The stars highlight Ryan Coogler’s dedication to Wakanda and stress his “integrity” during production and how he has helmed their story.

“There’s not many directors like Ryan out there,” Write stated. 

“The soul and the heart of the film with the writing, and he has a sensitivity to our ideas and how we want to collaborate. [We loved] just having him be the one spearheading these ideas and the structure and just being our leader each day on set. It’s a dream come true to work with him again.” 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is coming to theaters on November 11.

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