Black Panther Swims Past Titanic at the Domestic Box Office, Crosses the $1.3 Billion Mark Worldwide
The Wakandans sunk the colonizers on the massive Titanic!
Marvel’s superhero blockbuster Black Panther has surpassed James Cameron’s Titanic this weekend to claim the #3 spot on the all-time domestic box office chart (not adjusting for inflation) with its estimated $665.4 million in North America haul.
The Ryan Coogler-directed film — starring Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, and Angela Bassett — now stands roughly $6 million ahead of the historical drama’s $659.4 million cumulative box office.
Black Panther remains the top-earning Marvel release in franchise history, towering over The Avengers‘ $623.4 million North American take by about $42 million and counting.
Upon making $202 million over its first three days in wide release, Black Panther registered the fifth biggest opening weekend of all time and the second largest for a Marvel title, slightly trailing the $207.4 million posted by The Avengers.
Internationally, the Marvel Studios movie has become the tenth highest grossing movie of all-time at the worldwide box office after passing $1.3 billion this weekend. That puts it just behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi‘s $1.33 billion and ahead of the $1.27 billion earned by Frozen. Its success has resulted in Disney owning half of the ten highest grossing movies of all-time.
H/T: ComicBookMovie
REVIEW: Black Panther
It’s finally here!! Black Panther is finally in theatres and after Black Panther clawed his way onto the big screen in Captain America: Civil War, fans were hyped to see how Black Panthers solo outing would turn out. With all the hype and buzz around this film, does it succeed or does it come down with cat scratch fever?
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WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!! SHIELD YOUR EYES IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN BLACK PANTHER YET!
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Right off the bat, Black Panther is one of the best movies that Marvel has made for the MCU. The movie has the perfect balance of action, heart, entertainment and pacing. However, the movie does have it faults which I will talk about later.
The story takes place after Civil War with T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) becoming the new king of Wakanda after his father’s death at the hands of Zemo. T’Challa goes through all the rituals and everything seems to be going smoothly until Ulysses Klaue (Andy Serkis) resurfaces and tries to sell Vibranium (The strongest metal in the MCU) when he is caught and imprisoned. Then, Erik Killmonger (Michael. B. Jordan) breaks him out and the two villains team up to try and bring down the Black Panther to steal all the Vibranium in Wakanda.
The story is simple and easy to follow so you don’t need to have read the comics to know who Black Panther and Wakanda is. The movie does a great job of explaining the lore around Wakanda and Black Panther.
However, one bad thing I can say about this movie is how it handles both villains, Killmonger and Klaue. First, halfway through the movie Killmonger actually kills Klaue so that he can get into Wakanda to execute the rest of his master plan. This came out of left field since Klaue is one of Black Panther’s big villains, and Andy Serkis does such a great job in the role that killing him feels like a strange choice. Also, Killmonger also dies in the end which is saddening because he was such an interesting and compelling villain that you end up rooting for him near the end. Michael. B. Jordan also did such a fantastic job as Killmonger that he is easily the best villain in the MCU right now (Sorry Loki). Now that Killmonger was killed, it ruins any potential of him coming back and facing against Black Panther again (Although who really stays dead in comics nowadays?).
The acting is outstanding in Black Panther. Chadwick Boseman (T’Challa) brings his all to his role and so does the rest of the cast. The chemistry with everyone in the cast can be seen and it really helps make the characters more fun and believable. After watching the movie, you will love T’Challa’s family and guards so much that you wish that maybe they may get their own solo movies or one-shots in the future?
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The CGI for this movie is amazing and really eye-catching. The scenes where T’Challa goes to the ancestral plane are really breathtaking and give off some serious Lion King vibes with how they are presented.
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Wakanda is fantastic and stunning to look at and it also looks like a great place to live. This movie did such an amazing job showing off Wakanda and the community around it that it really does feel like a special and sacred place. The technology that is in Wakanda really comes to life and some of the gadgets are really outstanding and awesome. The tech looks so futuristic and amazing that it will leave you wanting some of Wakanda tech for yourself! I mean just think of the possibilities!
I should also mention that the waterfall fight scenes are also beautiful to look at and really has a grand sense of scale that leaves you wanting more. Also, the fighting is also very brutal and awesome to see. Props to the stunt people for the movie.
The music for the movie blends in with the tone/theme of the movie and it also stands out on its own as well. Kendrick Lamar produced and wrote the songs for Black Panther. Lamar has been on a roll in the rap game over the last few years with his music winning Grammys. Lamar brings his A game and produces some great music that is very catchy and shows that he was the perfect choice for Black Panther.
The Verdict:
Black Panther is a great movie from start to finish. The story is simple and compelling, and the characters are entertaining and loveable. The main villain is the best that we have seen in the MCU. However, it should also be said how they handle the villains in this movie is also misguided. The CGI is also very well done and it really helps enhance the movie. Overall, everyone gave their all into making this movie, and it really shows. Believe the hype and go see Black Panther.
9.5/10
Now excuse me while I go make my way back to Wakanda for the second time.
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‘Wonder Woman 2’ Gets a Release Date
Late last night, the sequel for the incredibly successful Wonder Woman finally got a release date.
Warner Bros. decided to move the movie from its lucrative June release date and decided that Wonder Woman 2 will hit theatres December 13, 2019!
Now, why did WB decide not to give this announcement (that everyone was waiting for) during SDCC? It might be due to the fact that no one but Gat Gadot is officially confirmed yet.
It seems like a deal with WW director Patty Jenkins is still developing and that made Warner Bros. decide to just book that release date. Chris Pine is not confirmed to return either.
Wonder Woman 2 would be competing for that box office money against Frozen 2, which comes out during Thanksgiving 2019. Disney also has two other dates booked for live-action fairytales around the same time (November 8 and December 20). In addition, Wicked is set to come out December 20 as well.
Are you excited for Wonder Woman 2?
BOX OFFICE: Captain America Soars with $95 million
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the sequel to the 2011 original starring Chris Evans as the Super Soldier, grossed an estimated $96.2 million this opening weekend. The Marvel Superhero flick set a record for best April opening and earning an “A” CinemaScore from its audiences.
While it’s opening did fall beneath The Avengers and Iron Man 3, it does outrank many of the stand-alone Marvel character debuts, including both Thor films and the original Captain America, which it outgrossed by 48%. It also grossed an additional $110 million from audiences overseas.
Comparing it to the other Marvel stand-alone films that have been released since 2012’s The Avengers, The Winter Soldier‘s domestic debut received the biggest “Avengers bump” yet: Iron Man 3 was up 36%, while Thor: The Dark World improved 30%.
While it’s not surprising that more men than women showed up to watch the latest Marvel Superhero film, more couples were in the audience than families, with the majority of the audience between 18-49.
Last weekend’s top-charter Noah‘s audience fell a steep 61% this weekend with $17.05 million, putting its domestic total at $72.3 million.
Here are the weekend’s Top 10 films at the box office:
1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier / $95 million
2. Noah / $17.05 million
3. Divergent / $13 million
4. God’s Not Dead / $7.8 million
5. Muppets Most Wanted / $6.14 million
6. The Grand Budapest Hotel / $6.11 million
7. Mr. Peabody & Sherman / $5.1 million
8. Sabotage / $2 million
9. Need for Speed / $1.8 million
10. Non-Stop / $1.79 million
H/T: Box Office Mojo