West News Wire: After four films, Thor is still crushing it at the box office.
According to estimates released by the studio on Sunday, “Thor: Love and Thunder” made $143 million during its North American opening weekend. The God of Thunder is the star of this franchise, and it is yet another box office hit for the summer of 2022.
Beginning with Thursday previews, Taika Waititi’s second Thor film debuted on 4,375 screens this past weekend. It swiftly took first place at the box office, moving “Minions: The Rise of Gru” to second. The worldwide total of “Love and Thunder,” which includes international screenings, has already reached $302 million. International screenings began in 47 territories in the middle of last week.
“It’s another home run for Marvel,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It’s unheard of for a Marvel movie not to open at No. 1.”
The Thor franchise has grown with each subsequent film, which is both a rarity in franchise filmmaking 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 2017’s “Ragnarok.” Waititi, who also directed “Ragnarok,” is widely credited with rejuvenating the series, infusing it with humor, irreverence and leaning into larger-than-life metal aesthetics.
Critics skewed mostly positive and the Rotten Tomatoes score is currently sitting at 68% fresh. Audiences, who gave the film a B+ CinemaScore, were heavily male (60%) and 53% were between the ages of 18 and 34, according to exit polls. IMAX reported that $23 million of the global 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 co-stars as Zeus and Christian Bale plays the villain Gorr the God Butcher. It also boasts the biggest production budget of the Thor films, at a reported $250 million.
And yet, it’s noteworthy 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 phenomenon that was “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
The Minions carved out a second-place spot with $45.6 million in weekend two, bringing its domestic total to $210.1 million and its worldwide grosses to $399.9 million.
The summer’s workhorse “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 film is poised to cross $600 million by Monday one of only 12 films ever to do so.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. The top five are here:
- “Thor: Love and Thunder,” $143 million.
- “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” $45.6 million.
- “Top Gun: Maverick,” $15.5 million.
- “Elvis,” $11 million.
- “Jurassic World: Dominion,” $8.4 million.
