THE OFFICIAL BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER WEEKEND THREAD | 181M OW

[Eric Loves Rey]

NO

WOMAN

NO

CRY

 

Whenever the time comes to make these big, lavish, self-indulgent introductory pieces when a big weekend thread comes around, I try to look at the film from a broad perspective to appeal to everybody. But I think for something like this, I need to talk about my anecdotal experience when it comes to Wakanda Forever’s 2018 predecessor.

 

Like many, I was beyond hyped for Ryan Coogler’s afrofuturist epic. The trailers were so exciting and epic, Black Panther was already an iconic character thanks to his appearance in Captain America: Civil War, the Kendrick Lamar-backed soundtrack was full of bops, and the massive promotion across all facets of the Disney empire, at the very least, made people aware the film was coming out.

 

And I was one of the special few who saw it early. Thursday, February 15, at 7 PM to be exact. I was in a packed auditorium, surrounded by Marvel fans and casual viewers alike, all glued into seeing what this superhero movie had to offer. The lights went down and for 134 minutes, I was entranced, astonished, and in awe of what I saw.

 

We’ve all had those moviegoing experiences you never forget. Those experiences where you are so in awe with the film you’re watching that you can still capture the excitement of seeing it for the first time. For some people this was with Star Wars, and for others it was Lord of the Rings. And if we’re talking recently, there’s Avengers: Endgame or Spider-Man: No Way Home. And for me, Black Panther is probably my favorite moviegoing experience ever. No other film since then has given me the same sense of adrenaline, joy, excitement, and happiness that Black Panther did.

 

 

The minute I walked out of that theater, I knew I saw an instant classic. And to this day, Black Panther is not just my favorite Marvel movie, but one of my favorite blockbusters ever, and one of my favorite movies period. Everything you could want in a blockbuster is in here and it’s done with pure care and affection. I love the action, the production design, the actors, the characters, the costumes, the music, the cinematography, the story. Everything about it was grand, majestic, and beautifully told in a way that, yes, is familiar to MCU conventions and tropes. Yet the way Coogler crafted his film and told his story, it felt like I was being told this story for the first time. And in many ways, with regards to the film’s representation, it kind of was like I was hearing it for the first time.

 

Since the early days of Birth of a Nation, Hollywood has done little to truly represent folks of the African diaspora. Their stories are often slave or civil rights stories, or the characters are either sidelined to the story or lean on false stereotypes. But Black Panther went away from all of that. This was a film that celebrated everything wonderful and amazing about Black people. Their culture, their legacy, their history, their strengths, their art, their intellect, their bravery, their power. All with little to no stereotypes and an ensemble cast full of the most dynamic and memorable figures ever seen in modern blockbusters. All the while, the film looks into fascinating politics through the antagonist Erik Killmonger. Despite being the villain, his desires and wants for Wakanda to do more than sit in the sidelines and allow decades, centuries of oppression towards people of their skin color...those are valid and impactful feelings. The film not only celebrated the beauty of Africa and its people, but tackled issues that are still poignant and relevant to this very day, while still being an exciting and fun blockbuster extravaganza. Its powerful themes and messages were understandable to children, but non-patronizing towards adults. That is a hard balancing act to do, but Ryan Coogler did it.

 

And sure, at the end of the day, it’s not really revelatory. It’s still nothing more than a corporate toy commercial at the end of the day and we can argue those nuances of Disney making a Black Power movie until the end of time. But even toy commercials can have strong artistic value to them. And frankly, if a white guy like me can adore Black Panther and its powerful statements and visuals, I can only imagine how wonderful it was to the people this movie truly represented. And the public, no matter who you were, adored the film. It earned the fifth-biggest opening in history, was #1 at the box office for five weeks in a row, and became one of only three movies at the time to earn $700 million at the domestic box office. It made more in North American than goddamned Infinity War. Black Panther was so good and so iconic that even a movie that combined all the superheroes could not match it. It’s still surreal to me.

 

 

And yeah Infinity War did more worldwide, but Black Panther’s $1.35 billion still made it one of the biggest Marvel movies ever made. And to this day, Black Panther is still lauded and adored as one of, if not the best thing to ever have the Marvel Studios name across it. And to this day, even with your Infinity Wars and Doctor Stranges and Ragnaroks, Black Panther will be the film that will have the longest legacy. Long after we are gone, the new generations will treat Black Panther as this generation’s Star Wars. The new face of global blockbuster cinema, and what blockbusters could and should always strive to be.

 

With this massive success and intense adoration, everybody wanted a sequel the second they left the theater. And finally the sequel arrived four years later. But the world has a nasty habit of changing. And the last four years had a lot of changes. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been bombarded with Disney+ television shows, the current crop of MCU films have largely been divisive among the fanbase, and T’Challa has passed on to the shock of everybody, resulting in a massive story change, while the supposed Black Panther has been outed as an alleged antivaxxer. All of this has certainly been a headache for Ryan Coogler and his creative team, but thankfully reviews are strong across the board and that this is a loving tribute to the legend that was Chadwick Boseman. And in the end, this is the only thing that really matters from all this.

 

So to recap the rules real quick...

 

1. ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS. NOT EVEN SPOILERS POSTED UNDER SPOILER TAGS. 

 

This rule also applies to other movies in theaters and films/shows recently released on streaming. So no Black Adam spoilers, no Banshees of Inisherin spoilers, no Enola Holmes 2 spoilers, no Andor spoilers, no White Lotus spoilers, etc. If you do spoil something here, you will be banned. No exceptions.

 

We do have a spoiler thread for Wakanda Forever right here for you to go nuts in.

 

2. GOOD VIBES!

 

Big weekends like these are supposed to be fun. So don’t be a party pooper and ruin things for everybody. No matter what the film opens to, it's still gonna make bank, we still have plenty of Marvel goodness along the way, no need to predict the end times, and so on and so forth. Try to have fun.

 

3. THE REPORT AND IGNORE BUTTONS ARE YOUR FRIENDS.

 

4. IS OFF-TOPIC DISCUSSION OKAY?

 

Off-topic discussions are okay in situations where there's downtime and there aren't any numbers, so long as they don’t get heated. But when numbers are coming up and things are getting busy, then keep off-topic things down to the minimum.

 

And lastly...

 

5. DON'T BE A DICK.

 

So now...

 

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO

 

LET'S DO THIS SHIT

[Eric Loves Rey]

And while we are here, before things get started, just a reminder that the Super BOFFIES, celebrating 10 years of the annual BOFFY Awards, are almost here! You have until Monday, November 14 to submit your ballot to the lovely and beautiful @The Panda and @Blankments. For more information, visit the following thread:

 

 

Likewise, my third director countdown thread, this time focusing on the Coen Brothers, is also still accepting submissions until Sunday, November 27. As of now, I have just nine submissions, so your entry could change everything. And with a minimum of five movies to put on your list, you have no excuse not to submit. Support me, @Blankments, and @The Panda and vote, vote, vote!

 

 

[Eric Loves Rey]

And if you have an hour and 20 minutes to kill before you go see the movie, I also recommend this stunning video essay analyzing the original 2018 Ryan Coogler classic warts and all. Thank you to @Blankments once again for sharing this video in the Telegram chat, because this is a wonderful look into what makes Black Panther such a unique film, good and bad, to me and millions around the world.

 

 

[Water Bottle]

THERE IS A SALE THIS WEEKEND!

 

This is a reminder that BOT is a non-profit forum where we pay for servers based on donations and the small ad money we get. But if you want to support us directly without seeing ads might I suggest donating? And now would be a wonderful time to donate since we have a sale going on!

 

GOLD ACCOUNT: 

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PREMIUM ACCOUNT:

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(If you have any problems donating please use the donate button at the top with the amount then PM me and within 48 hours I'll give you the account you paid for.)

 

Our donations have never really recovered from COVID and I know with inflation right now people are feeling the pressure but if you enjoy our forums, we hope you'll consider supporting us!

[YM!]

2 hours ago, Eric Killmonger said:

And to this day, Black Panther is not just my favorite Marvel movie, but one of my favorite blockbusters ever, and one of my favorite movies period. Everything you could want in a blockbuster is in here and it’s done with pure care and affection. I love the action, the production design, the actors, the characters, the costumes, the music, the cinematography, the story. Everything about it was grand, majestic, and beautifully told in a way that, yes, is familiar to MCU conventions and tropes. Yet the way Coogler crafted his film and told his story, it felt like I was being told this story for the first time. And in many ways, with regards to the film’s representation, it kind of was like I was hearing it for the first time.

[eddyxx]

Well guys if the opening weekend proves to be disappointing(anything under 175m) then you can blame me because I won’t be able to see this til next weekend. I’m just way too broke right now.

[Grebacio]

Forget Box office numbers, all I care Is page count

[Legion Again]

7 minutes ago, Grebacio said:

Forget Box office numbers, all I care Is page count

>200M: good page count

175M-200M: bad page count

<175M: great page count 

[Eric Loves Rey]

X-post from the Tracking Thread. Things looking good!

 

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Greater Philadelphia Area Seat Report T-1 and Counting

	Sellouts	Showings	Seats Sold	Total Seats	Perct Sold
TOTALS	0	285	13089	47782	27.39%

 

Total Seats Sold Today: 1,494

 

Comp

0.499x of Spider-Man: No Way Home T-1 (24.97M)

1.328x of The Batman T-1 (28.68M)

0.756x of Doctor Strange 2 T-1 (27.2M)

1.229x of Thor 4 T-1 (35.64M)

[BadOlCatSylvester]

Looking at the recent tracking numbers, I don't see this opening above $180M. Had the previous 2022 MCU movies been received better this would be an easy $200M opening.

[Liiviig 1998]

Veterans day will be enough to push this to 180m+

[Deja23]

Bought tickets for 8p tomorrow. I’m so excited! My friends are getting our tissues ready. I also definitely identify with Eric’s post. Saw the first one 4 times in theaters and still love rewatching it.
 

This will be the first MCU movie I’ll be seeing opening night since Far From Home. I used to see everything opening night or week since Dr. Strange but yeah the pandemic and pretty meh reaction to the shows have sapped my interest. Though I loved NWH and really liked Shang-Chi, I saw them weeks after premier and on Disney Plus, respectively. Haven’t completed a TV show since FATWS though I did start Loki, Ms. Marvel and She Hulk. Haven’t seen Eternals, DS2, or T:L&T even though they’re on streaming.
 

I hope this will help reinvigorate my interest in seeing movies in theaters again. I’ve only seen NWH, NTTD and AQP 2 in theaters since COVID started.

[MattW]

It's early but following the tracking thread my guess at this point is 30+56+58+41 putting it basically right on top of Dr Strange 2

[Jonan23]

Excited to see this on Saturday night 

[NCsoft]

Now this is a weekend definitely worth being present for.

[stripe]

Let's do a guesstimate

 

29.5M Thursday

58.5M Friday

61M Saturday

47M Sunday

 

OW 196M

 

[Maggie]

185M is my guess

[Liiviig 1998]

Friday will be inflated. Sat will probably decrease or stay flat.

[jedijake]

7 hours ago, Liiviig 1998 said:

Veterans day will be enough to push this to 180m+

So the BOP projection is crap?

[Liiviig 1998]

3 hours ago, jedijake said:

So the BOP projection is crap?

Nah . I'm saying I don't see WF opening below 180m.

 

My personal prediction was 190-195m.(30-31m previews).

 

BUT

 

Don't like what I'm seeing in the trackingthread

So going with 28-30m previews 170-185m.

 

So it will probably open below 180m if previews come in at a low side of my range.

 

 

Edited November 10, 2022 by Liiviig 1998