Black Panther Soars To Record-Breaking $75.8 Million Friday

It's good to be king. 

Black Panther has earned a staggering $75.8 million in its first official day at the box office, establishing itself as the third-biggest superhero movie opening of all time (via Forbes). The opening figure includes the Ryan Coogler-helmed film's massive Thursday night preview haul of $25.2 million. 

Such a yield means Black Panther has smashed more than a few records: It has trumped all other Marvel movies to sit just behind the one-day earnings of 2012's The Avengers ($80 million first-day opening) and 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron ($84 million first-day opening). The film's $76 million pull is also the second-biggest pre-summer debut, just behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($81 million take-home), and is the highest one-day gross for a solo superhero film. Not only that, but it's also the largest single day for a movie not directed by a white male and the biggest day for a non-sequel movie in history. The icing on the cake is that it's the eighth-largest opening day of all time, across any genre.

Black Panther is anticipated to bring in even more big bucks this weekend, earning over $200 million across the four-day weekend. If it reaches that projected benchmark, the Chadwick Boseman-led film will trample the openings of four major Marvel movies: Thor: Ragnarok ($122.7 million), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5 million), Deadpool ($152.1 million), and Captain America: Civil War ($171.9 million).

Outside of its financial feats, the film currently holds a 97 percent certified fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and just received the highly desired A+ grade from CinemaScore. 

Also starring Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Florence Kasumba, Sterling K. Brown, John Kan, Martin Freeman, and Andy Serkis, Black Panther "follows T'Challa who, after the events of Captain America: Civil War, returns home to the isolated, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to take his place as King. However, when an old enemy reappears on the radar, T'Challa's mettle as King and Black Panther is tested when he is drawn into a conflict that puts the entire fate of Wakanda and the world at risk."