“Black Panther” Is Also Breaking Box Office Records In Africa

February 21, 2018 admin Celebrity Gossip 0

As you might have heard, Black Panther is a massive, record-breaking box office sensation.

As you might have heard, Black Panther is a massive, record-breaking box office sensation.

Danai Gurira, Chadwick Boseman, Lupita Nyong’o, and Florence Kasumba in Black Panther.

Matt Kennedy / Marvel Studios

Through Monday, the Marvel Studios release has earned $242.2 million domestically, the second best four-day return ever for a feature film, behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Internationally, Black Panther is also a giant blockbuster, earning $184.6 million through Monday — and that’s before the film has premiered in China, Japan, and Russia, three of the biggest markets in the world.

Internationally, Black Panther is also a giant blockbuster, earning $184.6 million through Monday — and that's before the film has premiered in China, Japan, and Russia, three of the biggest markets in the world.

Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, Connie Chiume, Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan in Black Panther.

Matt Kennedy / Marvel Studios

The film has become a watershed for cinema starring black actors, dismantling the myth in Hollywood that they aren’t financially successful internationally. It is also an unprecedented hit for a film set in Africa — in Black Panther‘s case, the fictional nation of Wakanda, but still emphatically set within the continent.

So it’s perhaps not that surprising that Black Panther also broke several box office records in Africa. Disney confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the film earned the third biggest opening weekend in South Africa (behind 2015’s Furious 7 and 2017’s The Fate of the Furious), and set new opening weekend records in the film distribution territories of West Africa and East Africa (each consisting of several African countries).

So it's perhaps not that surprising that Black Panther also broke several box office records in Africa. Disney confirmed to BuzzFeed News that the film earned the third biggest opening weekend in South Africa (behind 2015's Furious 7 and 2017's The Fate of the Furious), and set new opening weekend records in the film distribution territories of West Africa and East Africa (each consisting of several African countries).

Letitia Wright and Angela Bassett in Black Panther.

Matt Kennedy / Marvel Studios

The amounts of those records are fractions of what Black Panther has earned elsewhere in the world: In South Africa, it was $1.4 million; in West Africa, roughly $400,000, and East Africa, roughly $300,000.

The amounts of those records are fractions of what Black Panther has earned elsewhere in the world: In South Africa, it was $1.4 million; in West Africa, roughly $400,000, and East Africa, roughly $300,000.

Michael B. Jordan and Chadwick Boseman in Black Panther.

Matt Kennedy / Marvel Studios

Those figures indicate both how small and how new of a market sub-Saharan Africa remains for Hollywood features. For example, in Nigeria, which features a robust filmmaking industry known as Nollywood, many movies historically premiered either on television or direct to home video, bypassing theatrical distribution entirely.

Much like Black Panther‘s impact elsewhere, however, the film has created a new model for how Hollywood could roll out its feature films in major African markets — and smaller ones, too.

Black Panther enjoyed a rare red carpet premiere in South Africa, attended by several of the film’s stars, and actor Lupita Nyong’o’s father, Gov. Anyang’ Nyong’o, arranged for special private and public screenings in her hometown of Kisumu, Kenya on Feb. 13.

Black Panther enjoyed a rare red carpet premiere in South Africa, attended by several of the film's stars, and actor Lupita Nyong'o's father, Gov. Anyang’ Nyong’o, arranged for special private and public screenings in her hometown of Kisumu, Kenya on Feb. 13.

Lupita Nyong’o, John Kani, Danai Gurira, and Connie Chiume at the premiere of Black Panther in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Feb. 16, 2018.

– / AFP / Getty Images

“This film is of importance to us as black people,” Sadra Orwa, a 21-year-old student studying in Kisumu, told BuzzFeed News at the event. “It’s a challenge to the whole world that no matter where you come from or what your color is, you can do the same thing as the next person. Maybe even better.”

"This film is of importance to us as black people," Sadra Orwa, a 21-year-old student studying in Kisumu, told BuzzFeed News at the event. "It’s a challenge to the whole world that no matter where you come from or what your color is, you can do the same thing as the next person. Maybe even better.”

Moviegoers relax on the red carpet ahead of the premiere of Black Panther in Kisumu, Kenya, on Feb. 13.

Nichole Sobecki for BuzzFeed News

Additional reporting by Tamerra Griffin.