Black Panther crosses $1bn mark at box office

Disney, which is behind the film, based the figure on ticket sale estimates and comes on the 26th day of the film’s release.

The Marvel superhero hit starring British actors Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright and Martin Freeman is the fifth in Disney’s Marvel Universe to reach the milestone.

It is also the 33rd film to join the box office billion-dollar club, and the 16th Disney title to do so.

Other Marvel films to go over the $1bn mark include The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Iron Man 3 (2013) and Captain America: Civil War (2016).

Earlier this week, UK box office figures revealed it was out-performing superhero flicks Iron Man, Thor and Captain America after taking £35.4m in its first three weeks.

On Friday, it opened in China, the world’s second-largest movie market, and raked in $22.7m on the first day.

Directed by Ryan Coogler, it also stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o.

A total of 18 films set in the Marvel Universe have been released to date, with two more scheduled for later in 2018 – Avengers: Infinity War and Ant-Man And The Wasp.