Black Panther is already the biggest movie of 2018, and now the latest superhero blockbuster from Marvel and Walt Disney is on the precipice of cracking $1 billion in worldwide box-office revenue.
Entering its fourth weekend in movie theaters, the movie still has its claws dug into the top spot at the box office as it debuts in China, the world’s second-largest movie market, for this first time. Black Panther should climb past the $1 billion mark this weekend, having reached $940 million in global grosses during the week, including $22.7 million in its opening-day haul in China on Friday. That gave Black Panther the best opening day gross in China for a Marvel movie since 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, which took in over $30 million on its first day in Chinese theaters on its way to grossing a whopping $180 million in that country overall.
Black Panther would also be the first Marvel movie to reach $1 billion since Civil War cleared $1.15 billion two years ago, and the fifth so far from Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie is already the second highest-grossing Marvel film domestically, with its $520 million haul in North America trailing only 2012’s The Avengers, at $623 million domestically ($1.5 billion worldwide), according to Box Office Mojo.
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Black Panther only needs roughly $60 million worldwide at this weekend’s box office to reach $1 billion after pulling in roughly $122 million globally last weekend. Barring a larger-than-expected drop-off, the film should coast past that milestone.
However, Black Panther could still lose its box-office crown this weekend to newcomer (and fellow Disney film) A Wrinkle in Time. Director Ava DuVernay‘s adaptation of the popular young-adult novel of the same name has been highly-anticipated since Disney made her the first-ever black woman to direct a movie with a budget over $100 million. Disney has been promoting the film heavily for months, though its recent mixed reviews from critics could dampen A Wrinkle in Time‘s opening weekend box-office performance. Variety reports that the film is forecasted to gross roughly $35 million domestically this weekend, which may not quite be enough to stop Black Panther from a fourth weekend of dominance.
