'Black Panther' enters top 10 movie list
April 4, 2018After another successful weekend at the box office, "Black Panther" has officially joined the ranks of the top ten highest-grossing movies of all time. With a haul of 1.279 billion dollars (1.04 billion euros), it has now squeezed Disney's 2013 hit "Frozen" out of the global ranking.
The superhero film with the almost all-black cast was a hit from the get-go: it held on to the number one spot at the US box office for five consecutive weeks after its release on February 16.
Read more: Defining Black art in the age of Black Power
Welcome to Wakanda
"Black Panther" tells the story of T'Challa (played by Chadwick Boseman), the ruler of the African nation Wakanda. The rest of the world believes that Wakanda is a third-world country; in fact, it is a thriving nation making huge technological strides with the help of the country's powerful natural resource, vibranium.
Upon the death of his father, T'Challa, also known as the Black Panther, returns home to Wakanda to take the throne. An outsider challenges his rule and threatens to reveal the truth about Wakanda, arguing that people of African descent all around the world should benefit from the country's wealth and technology.
Upcoming actor Michael B Jordan plays T'Challa's exiled adversary, Erik Millmonger: while starlet Lupita Nyong'o also features as part of of the young king's personal guard.
Widely credited with bringing the "Afrofuturism" genre into the mainstream, "Black Panther" deals with colonial history while creating a technologically advanced alternative reality.
The film, directed by Ryan Coogler, is the 18th in Marvel's "Cinematic Universe" franchise. The upcoming "Avengers: Infinity War" film, which is due to hit cinemas in the US on April 27, will see the Black Panther join forces with Captain America and other Marvel favorites.