There's a lot of excitement for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, especially after that first wave of glowing reviews for the sequel. We've already told you the movie is eyeing a massive opening weekend, and it's a good job too based on how much it cost to make.
Variety reveals that the Black Panther follow-up has a record-breaking $250 million budget!
While there have been more or equally expensive Marvel Studios blockbusters, including Avengers: Endgame ($400 million) and, believe it or not, Thor: Love and Thunder ($250 million), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever breaks a very different record. It's now the highest-budgeted movie with a Black lead, beating the first Black Panther and movies like Men in Black 3 and Tenet.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever should break a number of other records this weekend too, especially with over $45 million in advance ticket sales. The trade notes that it could earn as much as $200 million this weekend in North America alone, with as much as $195 million overseas without a release in China.
Even conservative estimates suggest the movie will surpass $350 million at the worldwide box office by Sunday, meaning it will top Black Adam's $330 million haul in one weekend.
That's a real blow to the DC Comics movie that has major star power in Dwayne Johnson. He's been touting the movie as a major success on social media, but it's doing Shazam! numbers on a budget that was over twice as large (also $250 million, funnily enough).
There have been rumblings online that a Black Adam sequel has already been written, though we find it hard to believe the new DC Studios heads will be in a rush to move forward with any movie that's likely to disappoint at the box office. As a result, Johnson may find himself having to share the screen with Zachary Levi's Shazam whether he likes it or not.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives in theaters this Friday, November 11.
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