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

The long-awaited Marvel film also tops Fandango's presale ticket list, and reveals new aww-some emojis.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper

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.

Watch this: The best (and worst) things about Marvel's 'Black Panther' (CNET Top 5)

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."

More on 'Black Panther'

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.

2018 sci-fi, fantasy and geek movies to get excited about

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