‘Thor’ (and his buddy the Hulk) smash box office expectations
After a slow October, the premiere of Marvel Studios’ “Thor: Ragnarok” reignited the box office like a clap of thunder.
Disney’s big-budget action fantasy brought in an estimated $121 million in the U.S. and Canada, above analysts’ expectations of $115 million, according to figures from measurement firm ComScore.
The third installment in the standalone Thor franchise, “Thor: Ragnarok” had the biggest debut yet, with the seventh-biggest November opening ever and the fourth-best opening of 2017 thus far. The original “Thor,” released by Paramount from Marvel in 2011, premiered with $65 million, and 2013’s “Thor: The Dark World” debuted to $85 million before grossing $645 million worldwide.
The newest entry, starring Chris Hemsworth as the Norse god and directed by New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi, has a 93 percent “fresh” rating from review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and an A-rating on audience polling service CinemaScore. New to big-budget blockbusters, Waititi is a veteran of the indie scene with films like “What We Do in the Shadows” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople.”
This film marks the 17th consecutive Marvel Cinematic Universe film to debut at no. 1 (out of 17 films) and is Marvel’s eighth opening above $100 million. Combined with an estimated international gross of $306 million, the film’s estimated global gross stands at $427 million.
STX Entertainment’s “A Bad Moms Christmas,” which opened Nov. 1, debuted at No. 2.
The R-rated comedy sequel, a follow-up to the 2016 sleeper hit about three mothers who buck the unreasonable expectations of society and their families, grossed $17 million over the weekend and $21.5 million through Sunday, just under analysts’ expectations of $25 million.
The original film starring Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell opened with $24 million before grossing $113 million domestically.
STX is trying to turn the early success of “Bad Moms” into a full-blown franchise, with a “Bad Dads” spinoff already in the works.
Coming in third was Lionsgate’s “Jigsaw,” which earned $6.7 million over the weekend, a 60 percent drop since last week, for a cumulative gross of $28.8 million.