‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Marks Franchise’s Best Debut

Four movies later, Thor is still dropping the hammer at the box office.

« Thor: Love and Thunder » grossed $143 million in its opening weekend in North America, according to studio estimates on Sunday. It’s an ideal franchise for the God of Thunder and another hit of the summer 2022 box office season.

The second Thor film directed by Taika Waititi opened on 4,375 screens this weekend, starting with previews on Thursday. It easily topped the box office, pushing « Minions: The Rise of Gru » into second place. Including international screenings, where « Love and Thunder » opened in 47 territories as of the middle of last week, its worldwide total already stands at $302 million.

« This is another home run for Marvel, » said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. « It’s unheard of for a Marvel movie not to open at #1. »

The Thor franchise has grown with each subsequent film, which is both a rarity in franchise cinema in general but also not uncommon for those of the Marvel variety. The first film opened to $65.7 million in 2011, followed by $85.7 million for « The Dark World » in 2013 and $122.7 million for « Ragnarok » in 2017. Waititi, who also directed « Ragnarok », is widely credited with rejuvenating the series, infusing it with humor, irreverence and leaning into a larger-than-life metallic aesthetic.

Reviews have been mostly positive, and the Rotten Tomatoes score currently sits at 68% fresh. The audience, which gave the film a B+ CinemaScore, was overwhelmingly male (60%) and 53% were between the ages of 18 and 34, according to exit polls. IMAX reported that $23 million of the worldwide total came from their screens.

« Love and Thunder » brings back Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman, whose Jane Foster becomes the Mighty Thor. Russell Crowe also stars as Zeus and Christian Bale plays the villainous Gorr the God Butcher. It also has the biggest production budget of the Thor movies, at $250 million.

And yet, it’s worth noting that « Thor: Love and Thunder » isn’t even the biggest Marvel opening of the year. That title is held by « Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, » which debuted to $185 million in early May on the heels of the box office phenom that was « Spider-Man: No Way Home. »

The Minions earned a second-place finish with $45.6 million in weekend two, bringing their domestic total to $210.1 million and their worldwide receipts to $399.9 million.

The workhorse of the summer « Top Gun: Maverick » placed third in its seventh weekend in theaters with $15.5 million. With its domestic total currently at $597.4 million, the Tom Cruise movie is on course to cross $600 million by Monday – one of only 12 films to ever make it.

In limited release, the documentary ‘Fire of Love’ launched this weekend in three locations and grossed an estimated $22,328, while Claire Denis’ ‘Both Sides of the Blade’ earned $25,000 in four locations. .

The weekend is expected to bring in around $236.1 million in total, which Dergarabedian says is « really impressive. »

« Every week the market becomes more pre-pandemic, » he said. “It feels like a traditional summer movie season weekend. That’s a huge difference from a year ago.

The summer 2022 box office continues to be strong for Hollywood and theater owners, up 217% from last summer. The Year As A Whole surpassed the $4 billion mark last week, a 233% increase over last year, but still 30% behind the last year at the pre-box office. pandemic, 2019.

« Audiences are embracing the cinema experience with greater enthusiasm, » Dergarabedian said. « Right now, all demographics are interested in returning to cinemas. The challenge for cinemas going forward is just to have enough new movies.

Estimated Friday-Sunday ticket sales at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final national figures will be released on Monday.

1. “Thor: Love and Thunder,” $143 million.

2. “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” $45.6 million.

3. “Top Gun: Maverick,” $15.5 million.

4. « Elvis », $11 million.

5. “Jurassic World: Dominion,” $8.4 million.

6. « The Black Phone, » $7.7 million.

7. « Lightyear, » $2.9 million.

8. « Marcel the shell with shoes », $340,000.

9. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” $262,000.

10. “Mr. Malcolm’s List,” $245,416.

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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press