Hundreds of movie fans around the world proudly donned African dress to attend the first screenings of Black Panther on Friday.
From Hollywood to New York City, South Africa and Australia, they excitedly shared photographs of their garb on social media before and after watching thr groundbreaking film.
Many playfully geo-tagged their location as Wakanda, the fictional African country where the film’s action takes place.
Their turnout signalled the global excitement for the film which is the first superhero film to tell the story of black heroes and protagonists.
The Lawton family pose outside the movie theater in Silver Spring, Maryland, before going inside to watch Black Panther. They were among the hundreds of thousands who flocked the cinema on Friday night to see the groundbreaking film
Allyson Little and Melissa Williams-Valrie also dressed in Wakanda-inspired attire for their trip to the movie theater in Maryland
Father and son Khalel Robinson (left) and Jossan Robinson (right) wore matching tunics to attend the Maryland screening
Joyce Robinson wore a colorful headscarf and matching necklace for the Maryland screening
‘We’re excited because we get representation in a film that’s not about slavery, that’s not about trials and tribulations, but about a powerful African empire, which is where we come from in the first place,’ said tattoo artist Elisheba Mrozik, who attended one of the first showings of the film in Nashville.
She wore a flowing shoulderless black gown that was broken up by patterns of purple and yellow designs that she said was made in Nigeria and that she bought for the film’s release and Black History Month.
‘Somebody that looks like me is a superhero and nobody is whitewashing it. And it’s beautiful,’ she said.
Box office pundits are predicting that the film will surpass the Avengers in what it earns over the long weekend.
Industry experts cited by Deadline suggest that the film will take $182million by the end of Saturday and $231million by Monday night.
Forbes reports that it took $76.4million on Friday, including $25million from previews on Thursday night.
That makes it the eighth highest grossing opening-night film in the history of US cinema.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens, remains the highest with its bombshell $112million in opening night takings.
So far fans have loved the film. Ninety-five per cent rated it positively on their way out of theaters and many said they would see it again.
It has dominated so many conversations that Google has even launched a poll which asks internet users who search the film’s title if they plan to watch it.
In Chicago, Illinois, a group of women wore colorful dresses and pants. Some also wore festive make-up and jewelry
Kansas: A group of young men and women in Kansas’s Cinemark 20 on Friday night. They posed next to a sign for the film
In Alabama, a family with children poses beside a sign in the movie theater before heading in to watch the film
At an early showing at Hollywood’s TCL Chinese Theater, Segun Begunrin and his family wore a bright purple outfit that had special meaning to them.
‘This particular fabric meant something personally to me, because it was the fabric that we selected for my father’s funeral. So we did it for the celebration of his life. So it’s a form of celebration for the movie,’ he said.
Jacob Taylor also attended an early show in Los Angeles and said the impact of Black Panther extends beyond the African-American community.
‘I think it is very indicative of where we are as a culture,’ he said. ‘The push for diversity, inclusion, equal pay – all of that. So, I think it’s just timely.’
At a showing in New York’s Times Square, Mykwain Gainey wore a Basotho blanket used by the Bantu tribe in South Africa.
‘It’s featured very prominently in the film, and it’s cultural heritage,’ he said. Gainey said he wanted something fashionable that fit the film, but he also wanted to stay warm
Kiara Citron, who is a huge Marvel Comics fan and had a Deadpool-themed wedding, was at the same theater and wore a bright blue satin gown she spent a week sewing, using some leftover fabric for a matching head wrap.
‘I just made something for the occasion because I’ve never had an opportunity for this before,’ she said.
‘I’ve never gone to a theater to see a film like this before, so I just really needed to go all out.’
In Nashville, Latarsher White and her family wore custom-made African gowns and suits to a Nashville theater because it made them feel connected to their heritage.
‘It’s just an opportunity to explore those regal roots and to know that some of us do come from royalty,’ she said.
The excitement was shared in Melbourne, Australia, where two young women embraced African dress and make-up to attend one screening (left). A man in Georgia also posed proudly next to a sign for the film (right)
In New York, a mother proudly shared this photograph with her two young daughters after taking them to see the film
Georgia and Texas: A couple dressed to match each other (left) in Georgia and in Texas, a woman made the theater her runway to pose in her colorful dress (right)
Atlanta, Georgia: This couple in Atlanta held nothing back with their get-ups for the movie theater outing
‘It’s bigger than what we see every day and what’s represented. It’s just connecting to your heritage and that royal lineage to a degree. And so it’s always good to play dress- up.’
Kermit El-Amin, 25, wore his African tribal prints to work before watching the film in Nashville.
‘I wanted to make sure that people knew that I really felt comfortable’ El-Amin said. ‘Feel comfortable in the skin that I am in and feel comfortable doing things like this.’
Ronald Simmons, founder of the website YouDontReadComics.com, sported a Black Panther T-shirt to a Times Square show Thursday night. He said he expected Black Panther to be life-changing for many fans, especially children
‘If I was a kid, and I saw Black Panther that would have been great,’ he said.
‘I grew up in a lot of heroes and none of them look like me at all. And I still love those heroes, but I can imagine being a kid and seeing, you know, a character that looked like me, I would be pretty hyped.’
In one sold-out theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, on Friday night, the crowds were aghast when Fifty Shades Freed began rolling instead of the Marvel superhero film.
They angrily complained about the mistake on social media.
In South Philadelphia, one screening on Thursday night was packed with people in African dress.
Lynada Coleburn Bryant, who sold tickets to the event, said there was no doubt in her mind why it was so popular among the African American Community.
‘Within 24 hours we had sold 100 tickets Because it gives an opportunity for young people. African Americans and people of color, period, to see themselves as a hero which has not happened before,’ she told CBS Philadelphia.
Massachusetts: A large group of women in men in Boston, Massachusetts, leaped to the occasion
West Hollywood and South Africa: Couples all over the world dressed for the film, including in South Africa (right)
A group of students from the Capital Preparatory Harlem School watch a screening of the film on Thursday night at the AMC Magic Johnson Harlem 9 Cinemas movie theater
There were large crowds in Grand Blanc, Michigan, too on Friday night
Black Panther is expected to rake in $231million at box offices around the US by the time theaters close on Monday