Black Panther obliterates box office records for its opening weekend

Film has received critical acclaim and is a box office smash

There was no doubt as to whether Marvel's Black Panther was going to perform well at the box office, but the people behind the acclaimed film may still be blinking at just how well it's doing.

Upon release, Black Panther instantly became the top-grossing film in history by a black director (Ryan Coogler) and featuring a predominantly black cast.

It also recorded the second-best Sunday ever at the domestic box office with an estimated $59.55m (£43m), just behind the all-time record held by the Disney/Lucasfilm production Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Even more staggering is the prediction, according to Deadline, that the film could potentially take the record for the second best four-day opening of all time, with $241m-$243m after The Force Awakens' $288m.

This would see the movie claw up its rivals' Friday-Monday takings by Avengers ($226.3m), Jurassic World ($234.1m), and Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($241.6m).

The soundtrack, which was curated and produced by Kendrick Lamar and Top Dawg Entertainment, also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. The album features a wealth of talent including SZA, The Weeknd, Future, Swae Lee, Khalid, Jorja Smith, Travis Scott, and Kendrick himself.

The Independent recently reported on how Twitter trolls have been banned after making false claims that white people were being attacked at Black Panther screenings. As the film opened on Thursday night last week, racists attempted to stir up hate by alleging assaults on white cinemagoers, posting old stock photos of bloodied tissues or injuries as "evidence". Fans quickly spotted the fake posts and mocked the trolls on social media.

Elsewhere, director Coogler explained to The Independent how views of Africa and African culture have been limited "almost as a direct result of colonisation", after themes of Afrofuturism were explored in the film.

"So I think Afrofuturism is kind of a response to that," he continued. "It finds a way to bridge the cultural aspects of the ancient African traditions with the potential of the future. Just looking at Africans and African culture in that context is refreshing, you know, when you're looking at it in the context that mainstream media tends to portray it."

‘Black Panther’ is out in UK and US cinemas now.

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