Christmas is always a surprisingly busy time for the box office, and while 2022 is down on 2021 (Avatar: The Way of Water is clearly no match for Spider-Man: No Way Home), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hit a big benchmark on Christmas Day.
According to Deadline, the Marvel Studios sequel hit $799.5 million on Sunday, meaning that, by the time you read this (and we're still waiting on updated figures delayed due to the holidays), the Black Panther follow-up will have hit $800 million. That's made up of $425.7 million from North America and $373.8 million from overseas.
Like most Hollywood blockbusters in recent years, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever wasn't released in China. That's likely to ruin its chances of hitting $1 billion, but the sequel is still an undeniable hit. If 2022 has taught us anything, it's that the pandemic means a blockbuster sailing past that highly sought-after figure is no longer as easy as it once was.
It's worth noting that Disney has held off on releasing the movie on Disney+, lengthening what's become a standard 45-day theatrical window. That's clearly paid off, though we know Black Panther: Wakanda Forever will hit the platform early next year.
In other box office news, Christmas Day saw Avatar: The Way of Water top $855.4 million worldwide. As of right now, the movie doesn't appear to be performing as well as its predecessor, so it's going to be very interesting in the weeks to come to see whether it's able to get anywhere close to $2 billion.
After all, director James Cameron has previously said that's a number it has to hit in order to be deemed profitable!
Theaters definitely had some competition from streaming over the holidays, anyway, with Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery drawing a lot of attention after hitting Netflix on December 23. Disney Animation's Strange World also premiered on Disney+, while we're sure Top Gun: Maverick received a lot of love over on Paramount+.
What did you guys watch over the festive period?