 2. Black Adam, £786,000 from 592 sites. Total: £18.5m (4 weeks) 3. Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, £648,000 from 643 sites. Total: £11.6m (5 weeks) 4. The Banshees of Inisherin, £561,000 from 606 sites. Total: £7.48m (4 weeks) 5. Liv){kind=link}
Martin Scorsese may not consider Marvel movies cinema – but they are keeping cinemas in business
With no film since the early-July release of Thor: Love and Thunder achieving as much as £20m at the UK and Ireland box office, it’s no understatement to say that cinemas have been crying out for a hit. The likes of Smile (£11.4 million in UK and Ireland) and Don’t Worry Darling (£10.5 million) are surprise successes, and nice-to-haves, but they are not the kind of films that drive mass audiences to cinemas – and operators need a steady stream of blockbusters to achieve profitability.
Once again, it has been Marvel to the rescue. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever opened in the UK and Ireland at the weekend with a beefy £12.4m in three days – the highest for any film released this year apart from Marvel’s own Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The opening is also ahead of the original Black Panther on a like-for-like basis (£10.5 million for the three-day opening weekend, and £17.7 million including three days of previews).
The UK success of Wakanda Forever has been repeated globally, with $181m in North America and $150m in international markets, combining for a $331m global debut. The film has every chance of joining Top Gun: Maverick ($1.49bn) and Jurassic World: Dominion ($1 billion) as the only $1 billion global box office hits of 2022. Cracking a billion is one thing – but matching the $1.38 billion of the first Black Panther film could prove a step too far for the sequel.
Marvel and its owner Disney can congratulate itself on the success – especially given the challenges they faced. The August 2020 death from colon cancer of Chadwick Boseman, the original Black Panther, aka T’Challa, presented a tricky choice: recast the role with a different actor; or proceed with a Black Panther film minus the titular character. Director Ryan Coogler, Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige and other decision makers took the latter course, elevating the roles of characters including T’Challa’s boffin-ish sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) – but the move came with risks.