‘Black Panther’ International Box Office Hits $23.2 Million

Black Panther has already achieved an impressive $23.2 million box office haul overseas.

The film opened internationally one day earlier than it does in the United States, something which is not uncommon for Marvel Studios films. It opened in 17 markets on Wednesday and is outpacing the most recent standalone film to be a Marvel character’s first which was Doctor Strange in November of 2016.

More specifically, Black Panther garnered $4.7 million in Korea, marking the market’s second largest opening of any Marvel Studios title. In the United Kingdom, the film has earned $7.2 million, topping Doctor Strange, Ant-Man, Wonder Woman, and Deadpool.

Domestically, Black Panther is expected to haul in beyond $180 million in its opening weekend, competing with the opening weekend of the stop-motion film Early Man from the team behind Chicken Run and Fifty Shades Freed which is heading into its second weekend. Should Black Panther achieve such a monstrous weekend, it would mark the third largest opening weekend in Marvel Studios’ history — a record currently held by Captain America: Civil War‘s $179 million.

So far, a sequel is merely expected but not yet promised and director Ryan Coogler is not yet signed on for its inevitable arrival.

Speaking to ComicBook.com, Coogler opened up about the process which helped him land the Black Panther director job. “It’s weird because it wasn’t a pitch as much as I got a call from Nate Moore, who produced on [Captain America: The Winter Soldier] and [Captain America: Civil War],” Coogler said. “He was kind of [Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige]’s right hand on all he projects and I got a call from him. He had been shepherding the film along at the studio for a number of years now. So I got a call from him, talked to to him about what they were trying to do, trying to figure out how the studio worked because I didn’t really know how they worked intimately. I was curious.”

From there, Coogler heard the vision of the project from Marvel Studios’ executives before continuing with his own work. “I sat with that, and I had to process,” Coogler says. “I watched Civil War which hadn’t been out yet. I had to process what I would do and I came back to them and I talked to them. I thought that I wanted to make it but only if I got to explore this certain things.”

Watch ComicBook.com’s interview with Coogler in the video above and head over to ComicBook.com Originals’ YouTube channel for more exclusive interviews with the film’s cast!

Black Panther hits theaters on February 16, 2018. Advanced tickets are on sale now wherever tickets are sold. Other upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies include; Avengers: Infinity War on May 4th, Ant-Man and the Wasp on July 6th, Captain Marvel on March 8, 2019, the fourth Avengers movie on May 3, 2019, the sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming on July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in 2020.

(via Deadline)