“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” hits theaters this weekend, and with it comes box office anticipation and anticipation that Hollywood hasn’t seen in months.   

  Not only does the Marvel film have to follow up 2018’s “Black Panther,” one of the biggest blockbusters of all time, but it has the challenge of doing so without star Chadwick Boseman, who died in 2020. If not all of this enough, it arrives as cinemas, and Disney, the company releasing the film, really need a hit.   

  If early predictions and ticket sales are any indication, it looks like “Wakanda Forever” will be just that.   

  The film, which stars Letitia Wright and Angela Bassett as the grieving princess and queen of the Vibranium-powered African country of Wakanda, will likely have a record debut of around $180 million this weekend and possibly even $200 million dollars.   

  Disney, more conservatively, is projecting about $175 million, which would still be one of the biggest openings of the year.   

  If “Wakanda Forever” closes to $158 million this weekend, which is likely, it will become the biggest November opening ever.  And if it makes $200 million, it would be one of the highest-grossing debuts of all time.   

  The film is off to a strong start, bringing in $28 million on Thursday night.  This is good news for a theater industry in need of a blockbuster.   

  When “Black Panther” hit theaters in February 2018, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon.  The Marvel superhero film opened eyes with an impressive $202 million weekend before earning $1.3 billion worldwide and garnering several Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.   

  “There’s precedent for this franchise to draw huge crowds,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore (SCOR), told CNN Business.  “Every blockbuster counts more than ever for movie theaters right now.”   

  Why does it matter how ‘Wakanda Forever’ does this weekend?  Because after a strong showing this summer, the domestic box office has hit a wall due to a lack of new, noteworthy films.   

  There have been a few surprise hits in recent weeks — Paramount’s “Smile,” Universal’s “Ticket to Paradise” and Sony’s “The Woman King” — but overall the North American box office is down 34% compared to 2019 before the pandemic.  a lot of ground to make up and not much time left to do it.   

  There are countless reasons why ticket sales are lagging behind pre-pandemic levels, but one major factor is that wide-distribution movie releases are down 38% compared to the same period in 2019.   

  “Coming out of this slow period with a huge blockbuster like ‘Wakanda’ is welcome news for theater owners, especially since there are no other glaring gaps in the release calendar in the near future,” Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at Boxoffice .  com, he told CNN Business.   

  Theaters need “Wakanda Forever” right now for the same reason they needed “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “The Batman” earlier this year.  It’s unlikely the box office will make up the shortfall from 2019, but if “Wakanda Forever” ignites the box office this weekend, then that could close the gap and lead to strong momentum heading into 2023.   

  Movies like “Wakanda Forever” not only help drive ticket sales, but attract audiences who may have forgotten what it was like to go to the movies.  This benefits not only Marvel’s bottom line, but the entire film industry ecosystem, including theaters.   

  And then there’s Disney (DIS).   

  The media giant has had a rough 2022. Its stock is down 42% so far this year, and this week has been particularly bad.   

  The company’s shares sank 13% on Wednesday after the company reported that its streaming business lost $1.4 billion last quarter, despite growing its subscriber base beyond expectations.   

  The performance of “Wakanda Forever” likely won’t move the needle on Disney stock, given that investors remain very focused on the company’s streaming efforts.  But a strong showing from the film could help change the conversation.   

  A big opening weekend could also serve as a bridge to another potential Disney hit next month: “Avatar: The Way of Water.”  James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel to the highest-grossing film of all time opens on December 16, and like “Wakanda Forever” it could be a lucrative sequel to a beloved film.   

  “Momentum is everything in this business,” Dergarabedian said.  “Movie theaters have been waiting for a movie like ‘Wakanda Forever’ to remind people of the wonder and majesty of a great movie on the big screen.”   

  This, according to Dergarabedian, could “light a spark” that could ignite a “chain of films that will carry into the end of the year and into 2023.”