Despite stiff competition from Red Sparrow and not quite so stiff competition from Bruce Willis' Death Wish remake, Black Panther looks set to remain #1 at the North American box office this weekend as it pounces past the $800 million mark worldwide. Current estimates are pointing to a $62.2 million third weekend domestically and the Marvel movie is on track to top $500 million by Sunday, a number which makes it the second biggest Marvel Studios release of all-time in the US behind The Avengers.
That scored a whopping $623 million back in 2012 and Black Panther has already beaten Avengers: Age of Ultron's $459 million. It's also worth noting that the Ryan Coogler helmed release will now have the third best third weekend ever behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($90.2 million) and Avatar ($68.5 million). That's an extremely impressive result and much better than analysts ever predicted.
With China on the horizon and Black Panther still doing well overseas, $1 billion is now guaranteed and it wouldn't be remotely surprising to see it creep towards $900 million by the time Monday rolls around. Will you be checking out the Marvel movie again this weekend or does the Jennifer Lawrence led Red Sparrow take your fancy? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts down below.