Black Panther has overtaken The Avengers to become the highest-grossing superhero film at the US box office, taking a total of $630.9m (£443.5m) on its sixth weekend of release. The Avengers – also a Marvel production – finished on $623.4m in its home market in 2012.
The record-breaking result, in which Black Panther added an estimated $16.6m to its previous week’s total of $614.3m, came as it was dethroned from its five-week run as the box office No 1, having been overtaken by monster movie Pacific Rim: Uprising, which managed $28m on its debut.
Black Panther, which as been widely lauded for its diversity as well as its commercial appeal, has overtaken both The Avengers and Star Wars: The Last Jedi to move to No 5 on the all-time list at the US box office. Industry analyst Brad Brevet of Box Office Mojo considers it likely to pass Jurassic World at No 4, and that it has “a shot” at overtaking Titanic, currently at No 3 with $659.4m.
However, Black Panther has some way to go before it can match The Avengers globally, with the latter film making $1.52bn worldwide. Black Panther’s takings currently stand at $1.24bn.