‘Black Panther’ Smashes Box Office Records and Hollywood Myths

The Disney-Marvel movie “Black Panther,” roared into theaters over the weekend as a full-blown cultural event, breaking box office records and shattering a myth about the overseas viability of movies rooted in black culture. Global ticket sales by

today (February 19)

will total an estimated $387 million. The previous record-holder was “Straight Outta Compton,” which collected $214 million worldwide in 201

5

over its entire run after adjusting for inflation. Disney, which supported “Black Panther” with a lavish nine-month marketing campaign,

stated yesterday (February 18)

that ticket sales for the film in North America will total roughly $218 million between Friday

(February 16)

and

today (February 19)

. Analysts had expected “Black Panther” to arrive to about $165 million in North American ticket sales, which would itself have been an astounding result for a release outside the holiday and summer corridors. The previous domestic record-holder for a February release was “Deadpool,” which collected an adjusted $159 million over Presidents’ Day weekend in 2016.