Over the weekend, ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ was premiered across cinemas in North America. The Superhero sequel broke the record for the biggest November debut, overtaking 2013’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.
According to the New York Times, the movie recorded $180 million at North American cinemas, ending one of the worse box office droughts in history. In addition, the movie collected an additional $150 million in overseas debut.
However, the money realized from the cinemas falls below what was recorded when the first Black Panther movie was released. The Times adds that it sold $202 million in tickets at domestic theatres in its first weekend and reached $700 million in the long haul. In addition, it took in $680 million overseas.
According to Collider, the first Black Panther finished with $1.3 billion globally, against a reported budget of $200 million. The platform further adds that Marvel now “has three of the top five biggest opening weekends of the year; Thor: Love and Thunder made $144 million in its debut. Other top weekend debuts of 2022 include Jurassic World Dominion ($145 million), The Batman ($134 million) and Top Gun: Maverick ($126 million).”
It says that as far as Marvel’s internal rankings go, Wakanda Forever’s $180 million debut is just ahead of Captain America: Civil War ($179 million) and Iron Man 3 ($174 million).
Black Panther has now become more than a work of art, but a movement aligned with black empowerment, black excellence and unity. This feeling has rolled over from the set to many international stages where important personalities have gestured the Wakanda Forever salute.
The crossed-arm salute was used in the film by the Wakandans as a greeting in the fictional third-world nation that is secretly rich in natural resources and more technologically advanced than the rest of the world.
Wakanda Forever now signifies strength, solidarity, defiance and resistance like the Black Power fist that was popular during the civil rights movement in the early 1960s. United States gold medalist Tommie Smith and bronze medalist John Carlos demonstrated for Black Power at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City where they raised their clenched fist as the anthem played.
Black Panther has since become a symbol of protest and a political statement, but the Wakanda Forever has become a symbol of victory and racial pride.
The salute transcended into soccer in England where Steve Mounie and Collin Quaner celebrated a goal against West Bromwich Albion by making the gesture last month. This was repeated by teammates Jesse Lingard and Paul Pogba the following day during a game against Chelsea.
In Canada, Kenyan rugby player Collins Injera did the same after scoring his 250th try during the World Rugby Sevens.
