'Black Panther' roars: It's now most-tweeted movie of 2018

It's "Black Panther" week. The long-awaited Marvel movie starring Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa, aka Black Panther , opens Feb. 13 in the UK, Feb. 15 in Australia and Feb. 16 in the US.

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And fans are so ready: The Marvel movie is now the most-tweeted-about film of 2018 around the world, according to a Twitter statement released on Monday. "Black Panther" has been tweeted about more than 5 million times, beating out "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" and "Maze Runner: The Death Cure."

Earlier this month, movie ticket site Fandango reported that ticket presales for "Black Panther" outpaced all other first quarter releases in the company's 18-year history. The film is likely to become Fandango's top preseller among all superhero films.

"It's not just a superhero movie, it's a ground-breaking cultural event," Fandango managing editor Erik Davis said in a statement. "It is hands-down the first major movie event of 2018, and the ecstatic reviews are fueling even greater anticipation."

And the movie turned from awesome to aww-some with the Monday release of Black Panther-themed emojis, including #BlackPanther, #Killmonger, #Nakia, #Okoye and #Shuri.

Some of the film's cast members were proud to share their emoji likenesses.

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