"Black Panther 2", best start of the year in France: "It's turning into a phenomenon"

We knew about this long-awaited sequel, but probably not as much... This weekend, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" signed the best start of the year over five days by accumulating 1,568,061 admissions on 625 prints between its released on Wednesday 9 and Sunday 13 November.

A breathtaking score, which, if the film continues to be a hit at this rate, suggests great prospects for its distributor Disney France: this second opus could reach 4.5 million or even 6 million spectators at the end of its career. .. And even beyond, which would allow him to consider competing with “Top Gun: Maverick”, the most viewed film in France in 2022 with 6.6 million admissions.

Read alsoHow “Black Panther” survived its main actor Chadwick Boseman

"We did not expect such a success," rejoices Frédéric Monnereau, director of distribution at Disney France, contacted at the end of the day.

It's turning into a phenomenon, and such a score shows that it goes beyond just Marvel fans.

There are strong values ​​defended in the film, and a lot of emotions, that's what appeals to teenagers, something is happening between them and this film, we see it on social networks..."

In detail, the feature film, which tells the opposition between the African people of Wakanda and that of another imaginary country, Talokan, had started well on Wednesday, but then signed "only" the fourth start of 2022, behind "The Minions 2", "Doctor Stange 2" and "Top Gun: Maverick".

Then everything accelerated on Friday, November 11, a public holiday, when “Black Panther 2” was full – more than 400,000 admissions, just like Saturday and Sunday.

"The film works very well everywhere, in Paris as in the provinces", details Frédéric Monnereau.

In comparison, the second best new feature of the week, “Colors of Fire” trails far behind with 244,551 spectators over the same five-day period.

Almost twice as many admissions as the first "Black Panther"

As a reminder, the film, whose actor in the title role in the original opus Chadwick Boseman does not appear in the credits because he died of colon cancer in 2020, almost did not come out in theaters, Disney having a time threaten to reserve it for its Disney + platform in order to weigh in for new negotiations on the media chronology (which sets the deadlines between the release of a film and its broadcast on TV or streaming).

“It's behind us, commented Frédéric Monnereau.

When we decided in mid-October to release the film in theaters, we did our best to make it a very good release..." Which, on arrival, allowed the studio to see many records fall. one after another.

Thus, "Wakanda Forever" achieves almost twice as many admissions in five days as the first "Black Panther", which attracted 850,647 fans at the same time.

"Black Panther 2" also signs the best launch since the start of the pandemic after "Spider-Man No Way Home" last year.

He also made the third best start in history for a Marvel film in France, behind "Avengers: Endgame" and "Avengers: Infinity War".

This, in fact, places France as the third best-performing market in the world for films, behind the United States and the United Kingdom and ahead of Mexico.

Because internationally, "Wakanda Forever" also offers a roaring release: 330 million dollars in revenue in five days (including 180 million in the United States, where it signs the second best start of 2022 behind "Doctor Strange 2 ").

Where and when will it stop?

Maybe on December 14, when "Avatar: The Way of the Water" comes out, another very big release to come for a movie distributed by... Disney.

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever"