Black Panther Sets New Box Office Record

Black Panther opened this past weekend, and it was a huge hit. The 18th Marvel Cinematic Universe film is expected to make around $218 million in the US and Canada for the four-day Presidents Day weekend, which is ahead of what analysts were expecting.

Black Panther's three-day US/Canadian haul of $192 million sets a new record for a film released in February. It surpasses Deadpool, the R-rated superhero movie that made $132.4 million in February 2016.

The film was directed by Ryan Coogler (Creed), and its opening-weekend box office haul represents a new record by a black director. Black Panther boasts a pretty-much-perfect A-plus CinemaScore rating (the first A-plus rating for a MCU film since Avengers 1 in 2012).

This CinemaScore rating, which is derived from movie-goer opinions, suggests the second-weekend box office performance will be strong as well on the back of positive word-of-mouth.

Black Panther, which stars Chadwick Boseman in the lead role, pulled in a further $169 million from international markets through Sunday, so it's a global success. The film reportedly cost $200 million to make. For more, check out GameSpot's review of Black Panther.

Below you can find a breakdown of the February 16-18 US/Canadian box office performance, with the four-day totals posted in parenthesis. Go to Entertainment Weekly to see a full and detailed breakdown of this weekend's domestic box office results.

1. Black Panther — $192 million ($218 million through Monday)
2. Peter Rabbit — $17.3 million ($22.1 through Monday)
3. Fifty Shades Freed — $16.9 million ($18.9 through Monday)
4. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle — $7.9 million ($10 million through Monday)
5. The 15:17 to Paris — $7.7 million ($9 million through Monday)
6. The Greatest Showman — $5.1 million ($6.3 million through Monday)
7. Early Man — $3.2 million ($4.2 million through Monday)
8. Maze Runner: The Death Cure — $2.5 million ($3 million through Monday)
9. Winchester — $2.2 million ($2.7 million through Monday)
10. Samson — $2 million ($2.3 million through Monday)