Black Panther isn’t just coming to rule the box office, he’s coming to top the Billboard charts.
The official soundtrack for Marvel’s latest, which was produced and curated by multi-Grammy winner Kendrick Lamar, is heading towards a No. 1 debut atop next week’s Billboard 200 album chart. Released on Feb. 9, Black Panther: The Album could end the week of Feb. 15 with more than 100,000 album units sold, according to forecasts.
Should this prediction prove true, the release will be only the second movie soundtrack to lead the charts in 2018 after The Greatest Showman.
Hype for the Black Panther soundtrack was fueled by the film’s official trailers, which tapped songs from Vince Staples, Run the Jewels, and Lamar. The full track list was revealed at the end of January with titles from Lamar, SZA, The Weeknd, ScHoolboy Q, Jorja Smith, and more.
Ryan Coogler (Creed, Fruitvale Station) directed Black Panther, which sees T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) ruling the kingdom of Wakanda following his father’s death in Captain America: Civil War as threats from within arise. The all-star cast features Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Letitia Wright, Michael B. Jordan, Andy Serkis, Forest Whitaker, Angela Bassett, and Daniel Kaluuya.
The film opens in theaters on Friday.