Black Panther, ruler of Wakanda and the rightful heir to T’Chaka, has conquered just about every box office market on the planet since his theatrical debut, but there is one that remains, and it’s arguably one of the most crucial.
We are, of course, referring to China, which has been a notoriously difficult territory to crack for most major Western blockbusters – particularly those with a predominantly African-American cast. But similar to how Ryan Coogler’s standalone epic has blazed its own path straight into the history books, there’s a good chance Black Panther will prove its doubters wrong and resonate with the Chinese audience.
Whatever the case, figures relayed by Deadline reveal that the MCU’s latest installment is expected to collect anywhere between $50 million and $60 million when it opens on March 9th. That figure could climb higher still, given the number of Chinese IMAX screens currently reserved for Black Panther, for a final gross of around $100M-$120M in the territory. For the record, that $60 million debut is slightly higher than Marvel’s recent efforts – namely Doctor Strange ($47M), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($54M) and Thor: Ragnarok ($57M) – and a little bit shy of Civil War, which opened to $99M.
Leading up to Black Panther‘s opening in China, there was concern that the Afrocentric blockbuster would fall flat in Asia, but after striking a chord with audiences across Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Korea – the Busan-set car chase has something to do with that particular foreign boon – Marvel’s international arm can look forward to March 9th with some confidence.
Because if nothing else, this weekend will herald the moment when Black Panther breaks $1 billion worldwide, becoming only the fifth MCU movie to do so after the aforementioned Civil War ($1.15 billion), Iron Man 3 ($1.2 billion), Age of Ultron ($1.4 billion) and The Avengers at $1.5 billion.