Ryan Coogler's Black Panther surpassed the collections of James Cameron's gigantic 1997 Titanic to rank as the third top-grossing title of all time at the US box office.

Black Panther, featuring an all-black cast, is only behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936.7 million) and Avatar ($760.5 million), with a domestic total of $659.3 million till Friday. Titanic had finished at $659.5 million when it released in late 1997. Globally, Black Panther has grossed $1.29 billion, ranking as the No. 10 title of all time.

The Disney and Marvel superhero film stars Chadwick Boseman as T'Challa/Black Panther alongside Lupita Nyong'o, Michael B Jordan, Danai Gurira, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker and Andy Serkis.

The story, described as a tale of black power and black pride in addition to its superhero themes, follows T'Challa as he is sworn in as king of Wakanda, a cloaked, technologically advanced nation in Africa that is home to the exotic metal vibranium.