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Bongani Ndlovu, Showbiz Correspondent
In line with global trends of breaking box office records, superhero movie Black Panther has been oversubscribed at the Bulawayo Ster Kinekor Cinema which has resulted in the movie being screened in all four cinemas on some days.

The movie features Zimbabwe’s Danai Gurira who stars in the hit series The Walking Dead, multi award winning actress Lupita Nyong’o, Chadwick Boseman, Michael B Jordan, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Andy Serkis.

Released last week, Black Panther has seen global ticket sales being predicted to total 387 million.

According to Ster Kinekor spokesperson Maybe Simbisai, Black Panther has had the biggest crowd ever since the movie house opened in Bulawayo last year.

“Most of the days ever since the opening night of Black Panther we recorded full houses during the showing times of the movie. At one point, we’d to screen it in all four cinemas so that we could accommodate everyone who wanted to watch it and at other times we put couches to try and accommodate more people,” said Simbisai.

Even after all these efforts, many have been turned away at the ticketing office after failing to get seats. The 8PM movie slot has been the better bet for those interested in watching the movie.

Normally, a movie lasts a month throughout the roster but it seems according to Simbisai, the demand might mean they would have to keep the movie on the roster much longer.

She said feedback from movie lovers has been positive with some having watched Black Panther more than once.

“People are happy with the movie. They enjoy that one of their own, Danai Gurira, is in it with a leading role and that the movie has a lot of African themes. Some people said they had watched it more than once which shows that the movie is a blockbuster.”

As said by Forbes, Black Panther has earned $263 million in five days, giving it the second-biggest five-day total ever, between Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($261.8m) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($325.4m). With $263 million in just five days, the blockbuster has already topped the likes of Men in Black ($250m in 1997), Batman ($251m in 1989), Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($259m in 2014), The Incredibles ($262m in 2004) and The Amazing Spider-Man ($262m in 2012).

Meanwhile, an American musical drama film The Greatest Show will make a return at the Ster Kinekor cinema this week by public demand. Simbisai said the movie will be shown in Cinema 4 as from today.