(AllHipHop News) If early ticket sales are any indication, Black Panther is on pace to be a huge blockbuster. Deadline reports the Ryan Coogler-directed comic book movie is now Fandango’s best-selling Marvel Cinematic Universe entry for the first 24 hours of pre-sales.
Black Panther surpassed 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. That MCU title went on to earn over $179 million at the box office in its first weekend.
Deadline points out that industry estimates suggest Black Panther is likely to bring in $80 million to $85 million in its opening weekend with a possible shot at crossing the $100 million mark. The movie is hitting theaters on February 16, a date that falls in the middle of Valentine’s Day (2/14) and President’s Day (2/19) which could give the star-studded motion picture a boost.
The Black Panther cast features Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Andy Serkis, Letitia Wright, and Martin Freeman. Award-winning emcee Kendrick Lamar and TDE CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith are producing and curating the movie’s musical companion piece Black Panther: The Album.
“It was initially my idea, but hats off to the Disney marketing team and the music team here for being completely open to it,” expressed Coogler to Fandango about the forthcoming LP. “I think that I was fortunate that I had a relationship with Top and Kendrick before signing on to do this film, but it was working with doing something that I really thought would be right for this project, specifically, and also happy that Disney was open to it and Marvel was open to it and seemed supportive of the idea.”
He added, “I can’t wait for the world to hear some of the art that they’ve been working on. I think that folks will be really excited to hear that stuff, man.”
Kendrick Lamar and TDE singer-songwriter SZA collaborated for the project’s lead single “All The Stars.” Another record with Lamar and Vince Staples appeared in a Black Panther trailer that premiered during Monday night’s College Football Playoff National Championship game.