Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ Most-Watched Marvel Studios Worldwide Movie Premiere on Disney+
February 6, 2023
Disney Feb. 6 announced that Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the most-watched Marvel Studios’ movie premiere on Disney+ globally, based on hours streamed in its first five days of release.
The sequel to the 2018 Black Panther, starring the late Chadwick Boseman, generated $842.3 million in worldwide ticket sales, including $453.5 million in North America.
In Wakanda Forever, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett’s first-ever Oscar nomination), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (Florence Kasumba) fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. The movie has been nominated for five Academy Awards.
Samba TV said 2.1 million U.S. households watched the movie during the L+4-day window. By comparison, 1.5 million households watched DC Comics’ Black Adam on HBO Max during the L+4D window, 2.1 million domestic homes watched Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Disney+) during the L+4D window, 2.2 million watched Thor: Love and Thunder (Disney+), and 2.6 million homes watched The Batman (HBO and HBO Max).
Of these movies, Wakanda Forever over-indexed by the highest margin among black households (+44%), Hispanic households (+27%), and A20-24 Gen Z households (+9%).
“Black households were more likely to watch Black Panther than other recent superhero franchises,” Cole Strain, VP of measurement for Samba TV, said in a statement.
Strain said there was a significant over-index of 44% against the average U.S. household among Black households based on Wakanda Forever viewership in the first five days, surpassing that of the other films. The Black Panther sequel also caught fire with younger audiences, including Gen Z households who were nearly 10% more likely to tune in compared to the average household.
“The Black Panther franchise continues to make history [for] it’s diverse representation both on and off-screen, which drove black household viewership to over-index by strong double digits,” Strain said.
Disney+ subs can watch behind-the-scenes footage and interviews of the making of the movie in “Assembled: The Making of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” on the platform, starting Feb. 8.