This past week, Marvel’s Black Panther crossed the incredible threshold of $1 billion globally, after being in theaters for a little under a month, joining a very exclusive club that is host to only 32 other films that have done the same, while being the only superhero origin story to do so.
Now, we can attribute some part of that global success to an impressive opening weekend in China as the film grossed $66.5 million in its first three days in the eastern nation, making it the largest opening of a Western film in China in 2018 so far.
Black Panther now sits at the No. 21 spot on the list of the highest-grossing films of all time, sitting $6 million behind DC’s The Dark Knight. Considering that the film just closed out with a little over $40 million domestically, holding on to its No. 1 spot in North America, its ascension up the list won’t be much of a challenge in the coming weeks. This weekend marked the third-largest fourth weekend of all time, trailing behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avatar.
Currently, Marvel will be looking to best itself with the April 27th arrival of its Avengers: Infinity War film. The movie is being heralded by the studio as the most expansive superhero movie ever, bringing in as many as 67 total hero characters into the mix—including characters from Black Panther.