The highly anticipated and hyped sequel to the 2018 critical and box office hit Black Panther debuted with a $181.3 million opening weekend. Although still noteworthy, it was still lower than the projected box office of over $200 million. Similarly, Wakanda Forever received high critical praise during the previews, but the critic review scores dropped sharply after the first weekend. The Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase Four has been performing lower than previous ones. Could this be another sign of franchise fatigue? Check out the details below.
According to reports, Wakanda Forever had a second Friday box office haul of $17.9 million. This is a 79% drop from its first Friday figures.
— Boxoffice Pro (@BoxOffice) November 20, 2022 Moreover, earlier expectations and projections for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was for a second weekend domestic box office gross of $70 million or higher. But the final tally brings the second weekend results short of the mark, which is consistent with the adjusted box office tracking being reportedly lower than anticipated. Based on box office tallies, Wakanda Forever drops -63% in its sophomore domestic weekend. This makes for a domestic box office return of $67.3 million for the November 18-20, 2022 three-day period. The international box office fared better, with a $69.8 million, which is only a -49% drop from the previous week. Comparatively, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is tracking for a lower box office than Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In its opening weekend, the Marvel Studios sequel to the first Doctor Strange film, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen, scored $187 million in its domestic opening weekend and $450 million globally. However, on its second weekend, Multiverse of Madness had a sharp decline of -67%, bringing in only $61 million for its domestic box office. Despite this, the second weekend global box office for it totaled $688 million. This is still better than Wakanda Forever’s current second weekend global total of $546.3 million. Overall, it is now performing -32% behind Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s performance is consistent with other Phase Four entries in the MCU. Black Widow and Thor: Love and Thunder had a second weekend decline of -68%. Meanwhile, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home both had a -67% drop for their second weekend. Finally, Eternals experienced only a -62% second weekend box office drop. This is a far cry from the first Black Panther which starred Chadwick Boseman. The 2018 superhero movie opened to a $202 million box office on its first weekend and only declined 44.7 percent in February of that year. Although Wakanda Forever is most certainly a financial success and may see an upsurge during the 2022 Thanksgiving holidays, it now appears unlikely that it will achieve the $1 billion+ mark that Marvel Studios was aiming for, particularly with no theatrical release expected in China and Russia. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever stars Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, Tenoch Huerta, Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Dominique Thorne, and Florence Kasumba, with Julia Louis Dreyfus, Martin Freeman, and Michaela Coel. Directed by Ryan Coogler and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures, Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is currently running in theaters.
