However, in the case of Black Panther, the predictions were short by tens of millions of dollars.
Predicting box office results on opening weekend has always been more art than science.
While predictions were rising to be as high as $170 million, the real number is actually over $200 million for Thursday night through Sunday, and will be even more when the four-day holiday weekend is taken into account.
Having said that, generally speaking, the numbers that are predicted weeks or even months ahead of time turn out to be pretty close to correct.