‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Fires Up With $28m Thursday Previews

As predicted, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever from Disney and Marvel Studios is blazing with a $28M Thursday, easily surpassing the preview night of the first Black Panther in 2018 which did $25.2M. Behind Thor: Love and Thunder ($29M) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($36M), Wakanda Forever is the third-best Thursday preview of the year. With six of the top 15 starts ever, Black Panther 2’s previews place it as the 15th best preview performance in the history of the business. Wakanda Forever has a three-day projection of between $175 million and $200 million at 4,936 theaters.

For the past two weeks, the Marvel Studios film has consistently sold the most tickets per day. Wakanda is reportedly the movie that 82% of fans on Fandango most eagerly anticipate seeing this year. According to reports, advance ticket sales for Wakanda Forever were evenly distributed throughout the weekend rather than being front-loaded. According to Disney, Wakanda Forever had $66 million in advance sales as of yesterday, which is less than Doctor Strange 2’s $85 million but more than Thor: Love & Thunder’s $48 million.

Wakanda Forever, which began previews yesterday at 3PM, currently has a 94% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes compared to 79% for the first Black Panther. For general audiences, parents, and children under 12, Screen Engine/Comscore audience exits are even better at five stars. Total audience recommendations are at a high 83%. 42% of the audience on Thursday night was Black, 22% was Hispanic or Latino, 20% was Caucasian, and 10% was Asian. Men over 25 made up 34% of the population (90% grade), women over 25 made up 26% (95% grade), men under 25 made up 25% (87% grade), and women under 25 made up 15% (98% grade). 39% of girls and 61% of boys aged under 12 were present.

Black Panther 2’s critical rating has been certified at 85%, which is lower than the 96% of the first movie. However, Wakanda Forever’s momentum this weekend won’t be harmed by that. Everyone will benefit from it, from Imax to theater circuits.

Following a sixth week of $5.3M and a Thursday of $269K, -11% from Wednesday, Paramount’s Smile crossed $100M this week. Prey for the Devil, a Lionsgate release, earned $5.1 million in its second week, $15 million overall, and $234K on Thursday, down 16% from Wednesday.