In a defining moment for Hollywood, Disney and Marvel Studios' Black Panther exploded at the Presidents Day box office, bounding to a record-shattering $192 million for the three-day weekend and a projected $218 million-plus for the four-day holiday.

The Ryan Coogler-directed movie -- unprecedented in being a big-budget studio tentpole featuring a virtually all-black cast -- secured the fifth-biggest domestic opening of all time, and the best of any superhero film behind fellow Marvel title The Avengers, which earned $207.4 million in its first three days, not accounting for inflation. It's still possible that Black Panther could best Avengers' four-day gross of $226.3 million if Sunday and Monday estimates prove conservative (some rival studios show a four-day total of $222 million-$225 million).

Other records broken include the biggest opening for an African-American director, the top-scoring superhero film on Rotten Tomatoes (97 percent) and biggest February bow, supplanting previous champ Deadpool, which took in $152.2 million over the four-day Presidents Day weekend in 2016.

(via billboard.com)