Black Panther Dominates Presidents' Day Box Office

Posted on February 18, 2018

Black Panther had a massive $192 million opening. The monster opening set a new February record. The previous record was $132.4 set by Deadpool in 2016. The Black Panther's debut is also the fifth largest opening ever. It came close to The Avengers' opening of $207.4 million. The film, starring Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa (Black Panther), also has a perfect A+ CinemaScore.

Black Panther was followed by Peter Rabbit, which added $17.25 million during its second weekend in theaters. Fifty Shades Freed fell to third after its opening debut at #1 last weekend. Jumanji continues to linger around the top five. It made another $7.94 million to bring its box office total to $377 million after nine weekends in theaters.

Jumanji was followed by The 15:17 to Paris and The Greatest Showman. Early Man opened in 7th position and made $3.15 million. It had a weak $1.263 per theater average. The animated film from director Nick Park has a B CinemaScore.

Black Panther is very likely to repeat at #1 next weekend. It will face challenges from Game Night, Annihilation and Hannah. Annihilation from Ex Machina writer-director Alex Garland will appeal to a similar audience but the Black Panther's huge momentum should easily propel to at least one more weekend in the top spot.