Black Panther has broken yet another record, this time for the highest Tuesday box office gross outside of the summer. With each passing today, new reports arrive of critical and financial milestones for the latest Marvel movie, suggesting that T’Challa and director Ryan Coogler will remain a key part of the MCU moving forward. Pre-release buzz and ticket sales were already unprecedented for the film, and Black Panther’s status as a cultural phenomenon has lead to some startling numbers at the box office.

Black Panther shattered February opening records when it arrived last week, topping 2016’s Deadpool. In terms of its overall opening, it managed to become the fifth-biggest debut of all time and only fell behind The Avengers when it comes to the MCU. Marvel has had a #1 film with every one of their releases, but they’ve yet to see anything come close to the success of 2012’s team-up. Now, however, The Avengers may have met its match.

Deadline is reporting that Black Panther pulled in $21.07 million in the domestic box office yesterday. That number gives it the strongest pre-summer Tuesday, besting Beauty and the Beast’s $17.8M from last year. The number also makes it the MCU’s highest earner for a Tuesday ever, easily topping The Avengers’ $17.6M haul back in 2012 (unadjusted for rising ticket prices).

The all-time record holder for a Tuesday is Star Wars: The Last Jedi with $37.3M, a number Marvel is unlikely to ever best. Still, the top earners for the weekday prove that Disney is still the top dog at the box office. Black Panther now sits at $263.2M domestically and is poised to hit $300M by this weekend. It took The Avengers 9 days to accomplish that feat at home, and Black Panther may do that even faster.

While Black Panther failed to overtake Force Awakens at the box office on Tuesday, that wasn’t the case on Presidents Day. Black Panther broke the Monday box office record at the beginning of the week, pulling in $40.16M and topping Force Awakens’ previous benchmark in the process. The film still has a ways to go before it surpasses The Avengers’ final domestic haul of $623M, but Black Panther is expected to add another $104-109M this weekend and ultimately become one of Marvel Studios’ top 5 earners of all time.

Outside of the box office, the accolades for Marvel’s first film of 2018 continue to pour in. Celebrities and other moviegoers have been taking to social media to praise the movie, with Black Panther now ranked Rotten Tomatoes #1 film of all time (besting Wizard of Oz). Not everyone may agree with the universal support that the movie has received, but it’s hard to deny that there’s something special about Black Panther.

MORE: Ryan Coogler Thanks Fans For Black Panther’s Success

Source: Deadline

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