Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has scored the biggest November debut ever.
Varietyreports sequel to 2018’s Black Panther earned $180 million at the domestic box office this weekend. Overseas, it earned an additional $150 million from 50 territories, bringing its worldwide total to $330 million. The previous November record was set in 2013 by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, which took home $158 million.
Wakanda Forever has the second biggest domestic debut of the year, trailing the $187.4 million by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Meanwhile, the Disney film has also notched the third-best pandemic era performance, behind the aforementioned Doctor Strange adventure and Spider-Man: No Way Home, debuted with $260 million.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever sees Letitia Wright reprise her role as Shuri, along with returning stars Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, and Martin Freeman. Additionally, Michaela Coel and Dominique Thorne make their MCU debuts in the film.
Back in September, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige explained in an interview with Empire why he and director Ryan Coogler chose not to recast Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa in the forthcoming Wakanda Forever.
“It just felt like it was much too soon to recast,” Feige said.“Stan Lee always said that Marvel represents the world outside your window. And we had talked about how, as extraordinary and fantastical as our characters and stories are, there’s a relatable and human element to everything we do. The world is still processing the loss of Chad. And Ryan poured that into the story.”
Once Feige and Coogler landed on their decision, they then discussed how best to honor Boseman’s T’Challa in Wakanda Forever.
“The conversations were entirely about, yes, ‘What do we do next? And how could the legacy of Chadwick and what he had done to help Wakanda and the Black Panther become these incredible, aspirational, iconic ideas–continue? That’s what it was all about.”
