‘Thor’ sequel reigns at box office
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 $122.7 million in the U.S. and Canada, besting analysts’ expectations of $115 million, according to final studio figures Monday.
The third installment in the stand-alone Thor franchise, “Thor: Ragnarok” had the biggest debut yet. 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 such as “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.
STX Entertainment’s “A Bad Moms Christmas,” which opened Wednesday, 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 $16.8 million over the weekend and $21.3 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. The holidaythemed sequel, which cost $28 million to make, introduces Cheryl Hines, Christine Baranski and Susan Sarandon as the main characters’ mothers.
Coming in third was Lionsgate’s “Jigsaw” which earned $6.6 million over the weekend for a cumulative gross of $28.7 million in two weeks of release.
NEW YORK — Mariah Carey, the artist with the most No. 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, is among the 2018 nominees for the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Pioneering rap group N.W.A. also earned its first nomination for the hall.
Other performing nominees for the 2018 class include John Mellencamp, Tracy Chapman, Alice Cooper, Jimmy Cliff, the Isley Brothers, Chrissie Hynde, Alan Jackson, Kool & the Gang, Tom Waits and Tom T. Hall.
Six songwriters, or songwriting groups, will be inducted at a gala in New York on June 14.