Barely months after the One Corner Dance hit the Nigerian scene and which got many celebrities dancing, Nigeria and the world are once again caught in another trend only this time around, it was the anticipated movie Black Panther. Social media was agog over the weekend as people all over the world all had something to do or wear to represent Black Panther.
From the costume worn by King Jaffe Joffer in Coming to America to excited Nigerians doing the Shaku-shaku dance made popular by Olamide to usher in Black Panther. Some could even be seen wearing the replica of the Black Panther costume. The former First Lady Michelle Obama also took time out to go on Twitter to sing its praises.
The super hero movie which premiered on Friday in South Africa is already shattering the Box Office. Disney-Marvel’s “ Black Panther ” is heading for a super-heroic $218 million debut over the four-day President’s Day weekend at 4,020 North American locations, estimates showed Sunday. According to The Nation, that number means that “Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman and directed by Ryan Coogler, has doubled its original tracking in less than a month.
According to Forbes, the movie earned a $201.8 million Fri-Sun weekend and will earn an estimated $235m over the Fri-Mon holiday. The film, which carries an estimated $200 million production cost, had been tracking to bring in between an impressive $100 and $120 million when first estimates emerged on Jan. 25.
Since then, “Black Panther” has become a must-see movie for many moviegoers, underlined when Thursday previews brought in $25.2 million, the largest Thursday night preview gross for a February opener and the second-largest preview gross for a Marvel film. While Black Panther lacked the Valentine’s Day advantage (Feb. 14 fell on a Saturday that year), it earned around 52% more than Deadpool and 148% more than Fifty Shades of Grey (which also had a Valentine’s Day Saturday advantage). The film’s estimated three-day gross of $192 million is the highest debut ever for a February film and the fifth highest of all time. Combined with an estimated international debut of $169 million from 69 percent of the international market, the estimated global debut stands at $361 million through Sunday.
The movie though came under attack as most of the critiques address disappointment in the role of the CIA and the perceived depiction of Black liberation. While other critiques stand on the fact that the movie does not in any way represent Black liberation or radicalism. The movie highlighted the problems that exist even in an utopian Black society. The so-called villain, Killmonger, was heroic in that he exposed the problems of Wakanda and pushed the so-called hero, T’Challa, away from his own extremism of isolationism.
Boseman portrays King T‘Challa, ruler of Wakanda, a technologically advanced society, who conflicts with Michael B. Jordan’s Eric Killmonger, who intends to take over the throne. Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong‘o, Angela Bassett, Danai Gurira, and Daniel Kaluuya also star. It’s received an A+ CinemaScore, the only Marvel film to have done so besides 2012’s “The Avengers.”
Let’s just say this is a good time to be black and proud as both Africans in Africa and Diaspora and the African Americans society have a moment to share and relate with massive onscreen representation. #wakandaforever
By Chukwuemeka Chigozie