‘Thor’ hammers newcomers with $56.6M

LOS ANGELES — The God of Thunder isn’t ready to relinquish his box office throne yet.

Studios estimated Sunday that “Thor: Ragnarok” added $56.6 million from North American theaters in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total to $211.6 million.

The film, from Disney and Marvel and directed by Taika Waititi, out-grossed each of its two predecessors domestically in just two weeks, not accounting for inflation.

It easily beat out the comedy sequel “Daddy’s Home 2” and the lavish Agatha Christie adaptation “Murder on the Orient Express,” even as both posted solid openings.

Paramount scored again with “Daddy’s Home 2,” which adds John Lithgow and Mel Gibson to the Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg formula. The film, which cost a reported $69 million to produce, took second place at the box office with $30 million.

The star-studded “Murder on the Orient Express,” meanwhile, screeched into third place with an estimated $28.2 million against a $55 million budget. Kenneth Branagh directs himself in the film, which also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley and Judi Dench.

“A Bad Moms Christmas” took fourth with $11.5 million in its second weekend and “Jigsaw” rounded out the top five with $3.4 million.

In smaller releases, Greta Gerwig’s buzzy coming-ofage film “Lady Bird,” from distributor A24, also broke into the top 10 in its expansion to 37 theaters, earning $1.2 million. Another awards contender, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” starring Frances McDormand, opened to a strong limited release with $320,000 from just four theaters.