Over President's Day weekend, Black Panther [1] arrived in theaters with its claws out. The film is truly unique and historic just as a piece of cinematic art; we've never seen a superhero movie with a nearly all-black cast [2], and this one in particular celebrates the beauty of the cast's natural hair [3] and places a special emphasis on traditional African costumes and African culture. By all means, it's not hard to see why Black Panther [4] means so much to the black community [5]. Then there's the icing on the cake: in addition to being an important touchstone for representation, the film already happens to be shattering records left and right. Here's what it's accomplished [6] so far:
- Fastest 24-hour presale [7] for a Marvel Cinematic Universe film
- Biggest February opening [8]
- Highest grossing film [9] by a black director
- Biggest Monday [10] gross in box office history
- Second biggest four-day weekend [11] gross
- Second biggest Thursday night preview [12] gross for a Marvel film
- Second biggest Sunday [13] gross in box office history
- Fifth biggest opening weekend [14] gross in box office history
Clearly, Black Panther has already cemented its place in history, and it hasn't even been out a full week. It's easy to see how it could break many more records in the days, weeks, and months to come.