By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES, March 4, (Variety.com) - Disney-Marvel's "BlackPanther" is continuing its super-heroic run, grossing a stunning$501.1 million in North America in only 17 days and becoming the10th highest grosser of all time.
"Black Panther," starring Chadwick Boseman, dominateddomestic moviegoing in its third weekend with $65.7 million at4,084 locations -- the third-highest weekend of all time after"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" at $90.2 million and "Avatar" at$68.5 million.
"Black Panther" is now the second-highest grossing Marvelmovie of all time at the domestic box office, surpassing"Avengers: Age of Ultron" this weekend at $459 million andtrailing only "The Avengers" at $623.4 million. "Black Panther"has a realistic shot at reaching that level in the coming weeksand may eventually top "Jurassic World" at $652 million and"Titanic" at $659 million for the third highest domestic totalof all time.
Two new titles opened with moderate results that might havebeen higher without a must-see title like "Black Panther" inmultiplexes. Jennifer Lawrence's spy thriller "Red Sparrow"launched with $17 million at 3,056 sites for Fox and BruceWillis' "Death Wish" debuted with $13 million at 2,847 venuesfor MGM.
Warner Bros.' second weekend of comedy thriller "Game Night"followed in fourth with $10.7 million from 3,502 sites, edgingSony's fourth weekend of CGI-live action "Peter Rabbit" with $10million at 3,607 locations. "Peter Rabbit" has connected withfamily audiences for $84 million in its first 24 days.
Paramount's second weekend of "Annihilation" finished insixth with $5.7 million at 2,112 venues, followed by Sony's 11thweekend of its sturdy action comedy "Jumanji: Welcome to theJungle" with $4.5 million at 2,313 sites. "Jumanji" has nowgrossed $393.2 million in 75 days.
Thanks to "Black Panther" and "Jumanji," overall domesticbox office for 2018 is up an impressive 10.9 percent to $2.12billion, according to comScore.