'Black Panther' Tracking for Heroic $100M-$120M U.S. Debut

Ryan Coogler's Black Panther is tracking to open to a heroic $100 million-$120 million at the North American box office, according to early prerelease surveys.

Marvel Studios and Disney open the stand-alone superhero movie on Feb. 16, the beginning of the four-day Presidents' Day weekend.

Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther alongside Lupita Nyong'o, Michael B. Jordan, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Andy Serkis.

The movie is the 18th title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's also the first tentpole of 2018.

If tracking is correct, Black Panther will come in ahead of stand-alone Marvel pic Doctor Strange, which posted a three-day debut of $85 million in November 2016. It would also be the biggest opening of 2018 to date.