'Black Panther' Is Only 2018 Movie To Achieve Blockbuster Status So Far

Nearing the end of March, Black Panther continues adding to its monstrous haul at the box office. Heading into its sixth weekend in theaters domestically, the movie featuring King T'Challa and the hidden country of Wakanda havs grossed over $1.2 billion worldwide, including over $614 million at the United States box office.

The flick has finished in the top slot at the box office for a record-breaking five straight weeks and it's one of the highest grossing movies that Marvel Studios has released. Black Panther is second only to The Avengers domestically and trails both Avengers movies and Iron Man 3 worldwide.

With such a large — and unexpected — payday, some industry experts are even crediting the movie with saving the box office in a horrendous first quarter.

Through the first three months of 2018, total domestic box office receipts hover just north of $2.6 billion. Doing some quick, crude math will show you that Black Panther earned nearly a quarter of that amount by itself.

As a matter of fact, Ryan Coogler's first Marvel Cinematic Universe has carried the box office through Q1. Sony's Peter Rabbit is the only other movie to cross the $100 million threshold domestically ($104 million) although Universal's Fifty Shades Free will likely break that barrier this weekend, with the movie currently having banked $99.9 million.

Speaking with Variety, box analyst Jeff Bock expressed his concerns with Hollywood.

"It's a little unsettling," Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations said. "I don't like to be all doom and gloom, but Hollywood doesn't seem to know what audiences want outside of Marvel, Pixar, and Blumhouse movies."

Comparing this year to year's past, 2018's first quarter is the lowest box office offering since 2011. Thanks to Disney's Beauty and the Beast, 2017 Q1 earned a massive $2.5 billion payday while Fox's Deadpool carried 2016's first quarter to a steady $2.2 billion haul.

Looking ahead, however, 2018 has the potential to finish very strong with movies such as Deadpool 2, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Avengers: Infinity War, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom all premiere in the next couple of months.

Black Panther is still in theaters with Avengers: Infinity War slated for release on April 27, 2018. Marvel Studios' 2018 slate wraps up with Ant-man and the Wasp on July 6.