As Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is nearing a worldwide release, its expansive marketing campaign will always be bringing out new tidbits for us to know about. While the Black Panther sequel is one of the longest MCU films ever, it is also among the most expensive ones. In fact, the humongous production budget of this film actually makes history for all films featuring a person of color in the lead.
The Massive Budget of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
As per Variety’s new report, Wakanda Forever was produced on a whopping production budget of $250 million. Given that the first one went on to become the highest-grossing film featuring a solo lead ($1.345 billion), the second one was always going to get a much bigger budget. Disney-Marvel have huge faith in what Ryan Coogler has to offer, so it wouldn’t have been surprising if the budget of this film even exceeded $250 million.
Also Read: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Review & A Triumph Of Unbreakable Spirit
Ever since the first film, director Coogler wanted to pit Namor against Black Panther. And bringing this ruler of an underwater kingdom to life would have certainly demanded a huge budget. With the kind of critical acclaim and fan reactions that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has got after its world premiere, the high expenditure already seems worth it (especially with the opening weekend projections of $175 million).
Black Panther 2 Breaks Past Records
Wakanda Forever getting this sort of budget is a huge deal on two fronts. First, a film featuring a POC lead has never been this big budget-wise. And secondly, Marvel has taken a punt on a female POC lead this time around, and that has never been done either. Here’s how Black Panther 2 compares with the previous big-budget movies starring a black actor:
- Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – $250M
- Men in Black 3 – $215M
- Black Panther – $200M
- Hobbs and Shaw – $200M
- Tenet – $200M
- Black Adam – $200M
The film is also among the top 5 most expensive MCU movies. Here’s how its budget compares with the past MCU movies:
- Avengers: Endgame – 356-$400 Million
- Avengers: Age of Ultron – $365 Million
- Avengers: Infinity War – $300 Million
- Thor: Love and Thunder and Captain America: Civil War – $250 Million
- The Avengers – $225 Million
What Black Panther 2 Needs To Make
Presuming that the marketing costs for this film would also be well over, $100 million, Wakanda Forever tentatively needs to make around $700 million just to break even. But Disney can be certain that it will ensure huge profits with a definite entry into the Billion Dollar club.
Wakanda Forever’s domestic opening projections of $175 million are less than what Black Panther made on its opening ($202 million). But because this film will provide closure to many Chadwick Boseman fans, it is expected to reach somewhere close to the worldwide Box Office numbers of its predecessor, if not go beyond that total.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever arrives on November 11, 2022.
Source: Variety
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