Marvel’s Black Panther continues to make box office history by scoring the biggest second weekend in the storied history of the MCU. Ryan Coogler’s entry in the franchise has become an undisputed cultural phenomenon - even by Marvel’s lofty standards. Released to widespread praise from critics and fans, Black Panther stormed out of the gates with a whopping $242 million opening during the 4-day Presidents Day weekend. It’s just the fifth film in history to post those kinds of numbers, and with word-of-mouth remaining very strong, it was all but guaranteed to have massive legs commercially.

The conversation going into Black Panther’s second weekend was if it would be able to earn $100 million or more, a feat accomplished only by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, and The Avengers before. It seemed to have a clear road to that figure, considering how it has dominated the zeitgeist and faced minimal competition for ticket sales. And now that the numbers have come in, we can add yet another mark to Black Panther’s already extensive list of achievements.

Per Box Office Mojo, Black Panther grossed $111.6 million in its second weekend, dropping only 44.7 percent from its debut. This is the best second weekend in the MCU (besting Avengers’ $103 million) and the second biggest all-time (The Force Awakens; $149.2 million). With this haul, Black Panther is now up to $403.6 million domestically, passing the figure in just 10 days - a full four days before The Avengers reached that threshold. Only The Force Awakens (8 days) made $400 million quicker. Simply put, Black Panther is in exclusive company.

A couple weeks prior to Black Panther’s premiere, longterm projections had it pegged to earn at least $400 million for its entire domestic run. The film has obviously far exceeded those expectations, and will definitely go down as one of the biggest films (not just comic book or MCU) ever. The all-time domestic record (The Force Awakens; $936.6 million) won’t be topped, but if Black Panther holds like this for another few weeks, it should be able to find its way into the top five, edging out The Avengers’ $623.3 million. At best, it’s extremely possible Black Panther ends up dethroning Titanic ($659.3 million) from the #3 position, but that will depend on how it performs in March. That month sees a bevy of genre films, like A Wrinkle in Time and Ready Player One, that will be taking away screens.

This week’s new releases, Game Night and Annihilation, debuted to much more modest numbers. The former, boosted by positive reviews, earned $17 million in its first three days, doing the best it could as a counter-programming option for adults and date night couples. Alex Garland’s Annihilation finished in fourth place in its opening weekend, grossing $11 million. Though the sci-fi drama earned praise for its ambition, beautiful visuals, and strong performances, it was not seen as a highly accessible film, which limited its appeal.

MORE: Every Record Black Panther Has Broken

Source: Box Office Mojo

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