The critically acclaimed, eagerly anticipated “Black Panther” predictably conquered the US Friday box office.
“Black Panther” earned a dominant $75.8 million on opening day (Thursday screenings included).
The figure, which ranks as the eighth-greatest single day tally on record, tops that of the day’s #2 film by a factor of 13.
It positions “Black Panther” for a three-day weekend in the $180-190 million range. Should that projection hold, “Black Panther” will deliver the sixth-biggest opening weekend on record.
Analysts meanwhile expect “Black Panther” to clear $210 million by the end of the four-day holiday weekend (President’s Day is on Monday).
“Fifty Shades Freed,” Friday’s #2 film, added $5.7 million to its haul. It should finish the three-day weekend with $16-18 million.
That means “Peter Rabbit” may end up in second place on the weekend chart. While it earned a lesser $4.1 million on Friday, it is on track for a weekend tally in the $16.5-19 million range.
Credited with $2.1 million, “The 15:17 To Paris” grabbed fourth place at the Friday box office.
“Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle” took fifth place with $1.9 million.
— “Early Man,” the only other major new release, struggled on opening day. The film earned just $850,000 from 2,494 screens.
“Samson,” which had a semi-wide release, earned a modest $630,000 from just under 1250 screens.
