Audiences are ready to return to Wakanda
Annette Brown/Marvel
This strong weekend showing is proof that the fall box office isn’t dead, but was merely sleeping. It’s been a sluggish couple of months for American moviegoers, as the only other film that’s come close to an opening this impressive was DC’s “Black Adam” (currently still at #2 in the box office) with a $67 million first weekend on the domestic chart. That movie saw a steep drop in its subsequent weekends, but it’ll be interesting to see if interest in Marvel’s return to Wakanda — and emotional farewell to the late actor Chadwick Boseman — will sidestep a significant audience drop and keep viewers engaged in the coming weeks.
Ryan Coogler’s film has been on track for a huge opening weekend since October, and audiences who have seen it seem to be responding to the film even as critics are slightly mixed. The movie currently holds an A CinemaScore rating, whereas its Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score is slightly less unanimous, with 84% of included critics giving the film a positive review. /Film’s Chris Evangelista praised the film despite calling it overstuffed, writing: “The emotional punch is more impactful than the physical one here, and whatever the flaws of ‘Wakanda Forever,’ its emotional heft is strong — and honest.” Having seen it myself, I can say that it’s a movie that benefits from a theatrical experience, not for its spectacle, but for the collective emotion it inspires.
The sequel sees Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, and Lupita Nyong’o reprising their roles from the first film, while franchise newcomer Tenoch Huerta Mejía plays the sea god Namor, and Dominique Thorne is introduced as MIT student Riri Williams, aka Ironheart.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Is In A Tight Race With Multiverse Of Madness For 2022’s Biggest Opening Weekend
Marvel
By Valerie Ettenhofer/Nov. 12, 2022 1:09 pm EST
Audiences are ready to return to Wakanda
Annette Brown/Marvel
This strong weekend showing is proof that the fall box office isn’t dead, but was merely sleeping. It’s been a sluggish couple of months for American moviegoers, as the only other film that’s come close to an opening this impressive was DC’s “Black Adam” (currently still at #2 in the box office) with a $67 million first weekend on the domestic chart. That movie saw a steep drop in its subsequent weekends, but it’ll be interesting to see if interest in Marvel’s return to Wakanda — and emotional farewell to the late actor Chadwick Boseman — will sidestep a significant audience drop and keep viewers engaged in the coming weeks.
Ryan Coogler’s film has been on track for a huge opening weekend since October, and audiences who have seen it seem to be responding to the film even as critics are slightly mixed. The movie currently holds an A CinemaScore rating, whereas its Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score is slightly less unanimous, with 84% of included critics giving the film a positive review. /Film’s Chris Evangelista praised the film despite calling it overstuffed, writing: “The emotional punch is more impactful than the physical one here, and whatever the flaws of ‘Wakanda Forever,’ its emotional heft is strong — and honest.” Having seen it myself, I can say that it’s a movie that benefits from a theatrical experience, not for its spectacle, but for the collective emotion it inspires.
The sequel sees Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, and Lupita Nyong’o reprising their roles from the first film, while franchise newcomer Tenoch Huerta Mejía plays the sea god Namor, and Dominique Thorne is introduced as MIT student Riri Williams, aka Ironheart.
Ryan Coogler’s film has been on track for a huge opening weekend since October, and audiences who have seen it seem to be responding to the film even as critics are slightly mixed. The movie currently holds an A CinemaScore rating, whereas its Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score is slightly less unanimous, with 84% of included critics giving the film a positive review. /Film’s Chris Evangelista praised the film despite calling it overstuffed, writing: “The emotional punch is more impactful than the physical one here, and whatever the flaws of ‘Wakanda Forever,’ its emotional heft is strong — and honest.” Having seen it myself, I can say that it’s a movie that benefits from a theatrical experience, not for its spectacle, but for the collective emotion it inspires.
The sequel sees Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Winston Duke, and Lupita Nyong’o reprising their roles from the first film, while franchise newcomer Tenoch Huerta Mejía plays the sea god Namor, and Dominique Thorne is introduced as MIT student Riri Williams, aka Ironheart.
