Gatsby77

For those keeping score, Black Panther's 5-day domestic total has bested Star Wars: The Last Jedi's 5-day domestic total by about $1.5 million.

I actually want to order the Black Panther Epic Collection: Panther's Rage. It collects FF 52-53 and Jungle Action 6-24. Jungle Action # 6 is the first appearance of Killmonger, and apparently notes that he grew up in Harlem (vs. Oakland in the movie) and that he holds a doctorate in engineering from MIT.

Tried to go see it last night in DC but shows were still sold out 2 hours/4 showings ahead of time.

That $60 million+ Sunday gross is a monster. Puts it at # 4 on the all-time inflation-adjusted chart for a Sunday. After only: The Avengers The Force Awakens Jurassic World More people saw Black Panther on its first Sunday than folks saw The Dark Knight on its first Sunday.

Not trying to take away from the cultural phenomenon that is Black Panther... But "most Tweeted about film of 2018" is a weak metric... when we're just 7 weeks into 2018.

Exactly. I loved Wonder Woman, but -- as a man -- cannot speak to how or whether it was found "better" or "more empowering" by women. I will note that a fairly significant social media influencer liked Black Panther and found it inspirational.

Black Panther's opening weekend gross of $192 million domestic puts it above the (unadjusted) total domestic grosses of: Thor Captain America: The First Avenger Ant-Man X-Men: First Class X-Men: Apocalypse

10 months, tho? For a movie that was all-but in-the-can, this is a bad bad sign... I can count the number of films that were significantly delayed and ended up being _good_ on one hand. Titanic (6 months) and Cabin in the Woods (2 years). That's pretty much it.

Having not yet seen this, the question I'll ask is my litmus test for all comic book movies: Does the plot work if it weren't a superhero film? Winter Soldier was great because it was a solid spy thriller that discussed the limits of government surveillance in the wake of the Patriot Act. Take out the superhero backdrop and it still could have worked as a Jack Ryan (or Jack Reacher) film. Wonder Woman was great because it was, similarly, a decent WWI spy thriller. The Dark Knight is the paragon of the superhero genre because it's a great crime/mob thriller -- essentially a remake of Heat -- with the Batman mythology grafted on top. Even Superman: The Movie's plot was decent -- Lex Luthor's conspiracy to manufacture an earthquake that would drop California into the ocean and make his real estate holdings skyrocket now that it's beachfront. Is the plot of Black Panther decent if you take out the comic book elements?

It's insane to me that this film will essentially match in a weekend the entire domestic runs of the first Captain America and Thor films.

Agreed on the best part. That entire seen, through to the drive to the school dance, was the film's high water mark for me.

Respectfully disagree. Because -- Iron Man-style suit aside, it was leagues better than The Amazing Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man 2, and Spider-Man 3. Similarly, much as I was frustrated by BvS, it was still a far better film than Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

Yeah - not a second print. Just a natural part of the green ink changing (becoming lighter) later in the process of the run.

We're not allowed to mention Pootie Tang anymore since Louis C.K.'s been excommunicated.

Love that chart. But your budget for Guardians of the Galaxy is still inflated by over 15%. Box Office Mojo -- and all other reputable sources -- have it at $200 million. Why, you ask? The very Forbes article you use to claim a "$232 million budget" also notes that by filming in the UK, "Britain’s tax authority H.M. Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has handed Disney a total of $36.4 million for Guardians of the Galaxy alone." $232 million - $36.4 million = $195.6 million (or ~"$200 million").

BoxOfficeMojo's now reporting it will open in 4,020 theaters. For reference, Justice League opened in 4,051.

Something to consider is that Rotten Tomatoes audience reviews take a few years to normalize. Especially as there have been concerted PR campaigns (and bot manipulation) by studios to try to artificially boost scores of new movies, there's a bias towards new releases that tends to smooth out over time. So it's pointless to compare films less than two years old with ones -- like The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 2 -- that are a decade or more old. Works the other way too. I have no doubt the fan scores of The Last Jedi will rise over time, as the concerted initial fan backlash dissipates in the face of more votes from the public at large.

For real? Black Panther is a C-list character. vs. Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman -- three of the most recognizable superheroes on the planet. For a movie featuring him to even be _made_, let alone potentially outperform Justice League, is ridiculous. Also, this is a $200 million movie whose most bankable actor is Michael B. Jordan (even accounting for Fantastic Four). vs. a film starring Ben Affleck, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter, and more.

Nah - that works against it too. First, it's a 15 year-old book and we're 8+ years into the bubble. But more importantly? The Rule of 25. Moon Knight's already hit peak nostalgia while TWD's is still more than a decade off. The biggest fans of Moon Knight are those who remember either his first solo series (early '80s) or those who remember the Marc Spector series (90s). They're now in their 30s-40s. 10-15 years from now they'll be worried about their kids college tuition or maxing out their 40`1k ahead of retirement. The Walking Dead, however, was revolutionary once it was really "discovered" by the comic book masses around 2005-2006 -- a solid 2-3 years past its release. And not only dominates most of the superhero market in terms of new issues each month more than a decade later but (more importantly) has entered the public consciousness. It's arguably the most important comic of the last 20 years (i.e., since 1998) and the most important since TMNT 1 (i.e., the last 35 years) in terms of mainstream crossover appeal. Sure...in a year or three the show will be cancelled. Demand (and price) will die down for a few years. But a decade later, it will be "rediscovered" by adults in their 30s-40s who have fond memories of the show from when they were teens -- and the buying power to finally collect a piece of their childhood again, just as it turns 25-30 years old.

On the one hand, it's got a $200 million budget. On the other hand, this might do Passion of the Christ -style business. I liked the analysis in (I believe) the LA Times article -- noted that while we've seen black superheroes before (Blade, Hancock) -- the characters were incidentally black. Not culturally African, let alone a joyous celebration of African political and technological prowess. Guarantee this does more than Justice League's $229 million domestic.

Tj This. Moon Knight is a C-list character. Yes - Netflix will eventually make a show, or he might feature in a movie or two. But he'll still be a C-list character, alongside Iron Fist and Blade. The problem with "investing" in his likely media appearance in the next three years is that...it will come and go. Five years from now (and two years post-solo Netflix show or equivalent) he'll be back to being his usual C-list self, a la Iron Fist and well...Blade. Plus, most of the run-up in WBN 32 has already happened over the last two years because of (false) rumors of an announcement by now. I enjoy the character; I _love_ that particular book. But 10 years from now (and 15, and 20) Walking Dead 1 beats it hands-down.

Agreed. Glad they cut that scene. Keeping it in would have been the laziest of lazy ways out. Because it's not like anyone who saw this was unaware that Superman would return (if they even remembered he "died" in BvS in the first place -- And I'm still unclear on that. Didn't we see the dirt over his grave move in the final shot of BvS?) So -- a golden opportunity to surprise us with Supergirl (since we saw the reflection of the red cape in the trailer) or Green Lantern or Martian Manhunter...instead it gets (rightfully) cut for time.

Not hard to believe. Also - it's fairly damning that a full 9 months after Justice League's release, his director slate at IMDB is barren. Two films listed as in "pre-production" or "upcoming" but with no dates (2018 or 2019) attached. And one of those films? "Justice League 2."

Well, looks like similar manipulation goes on with IMDB as well. See this article - apparently members of the Alt-Right are trying to tank Black Panther's score, just as fans are trying to artificially boost it -- even though it's yet to be released. More than 8,000 people have voted so far, yet preview screenings didn't start until today -- in Europe. http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/02/09/black-panther-reviews-sabotage-imdb-score/

This. The "angry fanbase" has been shown to be largely an outlier from unverified accounts on Rotten Tomatoes only -- and ones that don't jibe with user ratings from Fandango, Cinemascore, Comscore or IMDB. Why does this matter? Cinemascore polls folks as they are exiting the film; Fandango and Comscore require you to have seen the film. While IMDB does not, they are _far_ more stringent about the data they collect, because they sell that data to their paying subscribers. Rotten Tomatoes, on the other hand, requires only 15 seconds of sign-in by an anonymous poster. It is the easiest to manipulate -- especially versus the other outlets cited. And studios also use this to their advantage -- for instance, hiring firms to spam movies with positive User ratings before they are even released. Not saying that a chunk of fanboys weren't pissed off by this movie, but rather that -- good or bad -- Rotten Tomatoes user ratings are notoriously bad indicators of anything.