'Black Panther' Tracking For Massive $180 Million Box Office Opening

Black Panther's box office projections continue to rise.

Yesterday, Variety reported that the latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was on track to bring in more than $170 million over the course of the four-day President's Day weekend, a number up from the $165 million predicted on Monday. Now, that number has risen again. Deadline is reporting that Black Panther is expected to bring in $180 million and maybe even as much as $200 million during its opening weekend.

Those are huge numbers, numbers that mean the Ryan Coogler-directed film would need to bring in between $20-$25 million Thursday night when preview screenings start, and if some of the numbers for the movie coming out of the UK are any indication, it very well might do that kind of business. Black Panther had the biggest opening day of any movie in 2018 in the UK, bringing around $3.74 million in US dollars over 550 movie screens. In the US, the film will be on screens in 4000 theaters, seven times as many as in the UK. It's a feat that seems very possible if you consider that Black Panther is outpacing films in terms of advance ticket sales, selling more early tickets than any other first quarter releases in Marvel Studios history.

If Black Panther does manage to break $180 million for its opening weekend, that would make it the third highest opening weekend in the history of Marvel Studios. Currently Captain America: Civil War holds that spot, having opened to $179 million less than two years ago. And it would also put Black Panther in range of the top spot. The first Avengers film currently stands as the highest opening weekend for Marvel Studios with a total of $207 million.

And as box office projections for Black Panther continue to rise, so does the online hype for the film. Black Panther is currently 2018's most tweeted-about movie, with over 5 million impressions on the social media site.

Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael B. Jordan, Letitia Wright, Daniel Kaluuya, Winston Duke, Martin Freeman, Angela Bassett, Andy Serkis, and Forest Whitaker.

Black Panther hits theaters on February 16.