USA TODAY International Edition
‘Thor’ strong-arms newcomers at the box office
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 in theaters, bringing its domestic total to $211.6 million. Globally, the latest Marvel movie has earned $650.1 million.
The film, directed by Taika Waititi, outgrossed 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.
Daddy’s Home 2, which adds John Lithgow and Mel Gibson to the Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg formula, took second place with $30 million. The first film from 2015 grossed $242.8 million worldwide on a similar budget.
The star-studded Murder on the Orient Express, with Kenneth Branagh (who also directed) and his impressive mustache as Hercule Poirot, screeched into third place with an estimated $28.2 million against a $55 million budget. Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley and Judi Dench co-star.
Audiences were mostly female (56%) and Caucasian (65%) but somewhat evenly split in age (51% were over 35).
“It gives me an incredible injection of optimism for the future of our business. This is sumptuous, throwback Hollywood filmmaking, and audiences responded to it,” says Chris Aronson, president of domestic distribution for 20th Century Fox.
The studio expects the film to play well through the Thanksgiving holiday, appealing to audiences who are not rushing out to see the latest comic book adventure. Next week, DC and Warner Bros.’ superhero ensemble picture Justice League opens.
“I don’t think our audiences will overlap a lot,” Aronson says.
A Bad Mom’s Christmas, starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn, took fourth with $11.5 million in its second weekend. Jigsaw, the latest Saw horror movie, rounded out the top five with $3.4 million.
In smaller releases, Greta Gerwig’s buzzy coming-of-age film Lady Bird 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 strongly in limited release with $320,000 from just four theaters.
Still, the overall box office continues to lag, down 5% for the year.
“Despite Thor and these newcomers, a lot of these films aren’t creating a lot of excitement,” says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “It’s going to take this combination of Justice League and The Last Jedi and everything in between to try to dig us out of this deficit.”
Final numbers are expected Monday.