In four films, Thor is still dropping the hammer at the box office.
“Thor: Love and Thunder” earned $ 143 million over its opening weekend in North America, according to study estimates on Sunday. It’s the best franchise for the God of Thunder and another success story of the 2022 summer box office season.
The second Thor film directed by Taika Waititi has been released on 4,375 screens this weekend, starting with previews on Thursdays. He easily outperformed the box office and placed “Minions: The Rise of Crane” in second place. Including international screenings, where “Love and Thunder” opened in 47 territories as of mid-last week, its overall total is already $ 302 million.
“It’s another home run for Marvel,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “It’s unheard of for a Marvel movie not to open at number 1.”
The Thor franchise has grown with each subsequent film, which is at the same time a rarity in the making of franchise films in general, but it is also not uncommon for those of the Marvel variety. The first film opened with $ 65.7 million in 2011, followed by $ 85.7 million for “The Dark World” in 2013 and $ 122.7 million for “Ragnarok” in 2017. A Waititi, who also directed “Ragnarok,” is widely credited with rejuvenating the series, infusing it with humor, irreverence, and leaning toward a larger-than-life metallic aesthetic.
The reviews were mostly positive and the Rotten Tomatoes score currently stands at 68 and 53% were between 18 and 34 years old, according to exit polls. IMAX reported that $ 23 million of the global total came from its screens.
“Love and Thunder” returns to Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman, whose Jane Foster becomes the Mighty Thor. Russell Crowe also stars in Zeus and Christian Bale plays the evil Cap the Butcher of God. It also has the largest production budget for Thor films, with $ 250 million reported.
And yet, it’s worth noting that “Thor: Love and Thunder” isn’t even Marvel’s biggest opening of the year. This title is in the hands of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which debuted with $ 185 million in early May following the box office phenomenon that was “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
The Minions finished second with $ 45.6 million over the second weekend, bringing their national total to $ 210.1 million and their global revenue to $ 399.9 million.
The summer workhorse “Top Gun: Maverick” finished third in its seventh weekend in theaters with $ 15.5 million. With its current national total of $ 597.4 million, Tom Cruise’s film is about to surpass $ 600 million on Monday, one of 12 films that have ever made it.
In limited release, the documentary “Fire of Love” was released this weekend at three locations and grossed about $ 22,328, while Claire Denis’ “Both Sides of the Blade” won $ 25,000 from four locations.
The weekend should fetch a total of about $ 236.1 million, which Dergarabedian said is “truly impressive.”
“Every week, the market becomes more like before the pandemic,” he said. “This looks like a traditional summer movie season weekend. It’s a big difference from a year ago.”
The 2022 summer box office continues to look brilliant for both theater and Hollywood owners, 217% more than last summer. The year as a whole surpassed $ 4 billion last week, an increase of 233% over last year, but is still behind the last pre-pandemic box office year, in 2019, 30%.
“The audience is embracing the cinema experience with more enthusiasm,” Dergarabedian said. “Right now, all the demographic groups are interested in returning to the cinemas. The challenge for cinemas in the future is to have enough new films. “
Estimated ticket sales Friday through Sunday at theaters in the United States and Canada, according to Comscore. The final national figures will be released on Monday.
1. “Thor: Love and Thunder,” $ 143 million.
2. “Minions: The Rise of Crane,” $ 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 On,” $ 340,000.
9. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” $ 262,000.
10. “Mr. Malcolm’s list, $ 245,416.