Black Panther is a property that demands a certain level of style - and the amazing news is that it bleeds from the brand new trailer that was released last week. The film is going to take audiences on a tour of a place unlike anywhere else in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and the first preview suggests that it will be an impressively thrilling adventure. We already knew that it was going to be one of the most anticipated blockbusters of 2018, but the 89 million views in the first 24 hours could be just the film's first step towards huge box office success.
The Hollywood Reporter has the details about the Black Panther trailer, which launched during the airing of Game 4 of the NBA Finals last Friday. The numbers aren't record-breaking - with Thor: Ragnarok's 136 million views still holding that honor - but it does outpace footage launches for huge titles like Captain America: Civil War and the last two Star Wars movies. And while trailer numbers don't directly correlate with box office success, there are a number of reasons to expect the blockbuster to ultimately put up some huge figures.
The movie, which will be the 18th in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been given the weekend of February 16, 2018 for its launch - and while that used to be a terrible sign, the industry has changed quite a lot in the last few years. Since 2014, movies like The LEGO Movie, Fifty Shades of Grey, Deadpool, and The LEGO Batman Movie have proven that it's not that hard to get people into a cinema in mid-February - you just have to give them something that can really grab attention. Deadpool currently holds the record with an opening of $132 million, but to use the old axiom, records are made to be broken.
This conversation about Black Panther's theatrical performance potential is also incomplete without the discussion of representation - which is something we've been talking a lot about in the weeks since the release of Wonder Woman. Ryan Coogler's blockbuster isn't the first superhero film headlined by a black actor - as it is preceded by both Blade and Steel - but the fact that it's the first in what's casually called the 'Golden Age of Comic Book Movies' is most definitely significant, and will have people turning up to see it on the big screen. The importance of representation is reflected in the fact that diversity can have a huge impact on box office performance (Get Out and the most recent chapter of the Fast & Furious franchise are perfect examples from just 2017), and it will have a role to play when Black Panther rolls around.
The domestic totals for Marvel Cinematic Universe movies are all over the place going back to 2008, ranging from The Incredible Hulk's $134 million to The Avengers' $623 million. Where do you think Black Panther will fall in that spectrum? Answer our poll, hit the comments section below with your thoughts, and head over to Page Two to watch the trailer again!
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