Four movies in, Thor is still bringing the hammer down at the box office.
鈥� 鈥� earned $143 million in its opening weekend in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday. It鈥檚 a franchise best for the God of Thunder and another success story of the summer 2022 box office season.
The second Thor movie directed by opened on 4,375 screens this weekend, starting with Thursday previews. It easily topped the box office, bumping 鈥淢inions: The Rise of Gru鈥� into second place. Including international showings, where 鈥淟ove and Thunder鈥� opened in 47 territories starting in the middle of last week, its global total is already at $302 million.
鈥淚t鈥檚 another home run for Marvel,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unheard of for a Marvel movie not to open at No. 1.鈥�
The Thor franchise has grown with each subsequent film, which is both a rarity in franchise filmmaking in general but also not uncommon for those of the Marvel variety. The first film opened to $65.7 million in 2011, followed by $85.7 million for 鈥淭he Dark World鈥� in 2013 and $122.7 million for 2017's 鈥淩agnarok.鈥� Waititi, who also directed 鈥淩agnarok,鈥� is widely credited with rejuvenating the series, infusing it with humor, irreverence and leaning into larger-than-life metal aesthetics.
Critics skewed mostly positive and the Rotten Tomatoes score is currently sitting at 68% fresh. Audiences, who gave the film a B+ CinemaScore, were heavily male (60%) and 53% were between the ages of 18 and 34, according to exit polls. IMAX reported that $23 million of the global total came from their screens.
鈥淟ove and Thunder鈥� brings back Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman, whose Jane Foster becomes the Mighty Thor. Russell Crowe also co-stars as Zeus and Christian Bale plays the villain Gorr the God Butcher. It also boasts the biggest production budget of the Thor films, at a reported $250 million.
And yet, it鈥檚 noteworthy that 鈥淭hor: Love and Thunder鈥� isn鈥檛 even the biggest Marvel opening of the year. That title is held by 鈥� 鈥� which debuted to $185 million in early May on the heels of the box office phenomenon that was 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home.鈥�
The Minions carved out a second-place spot with $45.6 million in weekend two, bringing its domestic total to $210.1 million and its worldwide grosses to $399.9 million.
The summer鈥檚 workhorse 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick鈥� placed third in its seventh weekend in theaters with $15.5 million. With its domestic total currently at $597.4 million, the Tom Cruise film is poised to cross $600 million by Monday 鈥� one of only 12 films ever to do so.
In limited release, the documentary 鈥� 鈥� launched this weekend in three locations and made an estimated $22,328, while Claire Denis' 鈥淏oth Sides of the Blade鈥� earned $25,000 from four locations.
The weekend should net out with around $236.1 million total, which Dergarabedian said is 鈥渢ruly impressive.鈥�
鈥淓very week, the marketplace becomes more pre-pandemic like,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his feels like a traditional summer movie season weekend. It's a huge difference from a year ago.鈥�
The summer 2022 box office continues to look bright for both Hollywood and theater owners, up 217% from last summer. The year as a whole passed the $4 billion mark last week which is up 233% from last year but still trailing the last pre-pandemic box office year, 2019, by 30%.
"Audiences are embracing the movie theater experience with a greater enthusiasm," Dergarabedian said. 鈥淏y now, every demographic is interested in going back to theaters. The challenge for theaters going forward is just having enough new movies.鈥�
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淭hor: Love and Thunder,鈥� $143 million.
2. 鈥淢inions: The Rise of Gru,鈥� $45.6 million.
3. 鈥淭op Gun: Maverick,鈥� $15.5 million.
4. 鈥淓lvis,鈥� $11 million.
5. 鈥淛urassic World: Dominion,鈥� $8.4 million.
6. 鈥淭he Black Phone,鈥� $7.7 million.
7. 鈥淟ightyear,鈥� $2.9 million.
8. 鈥淢arcel the Shell with Shoes On,鈥� $340,000.
9. 鈥淒octor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,鈥� $262,000.
10. 鈥淢r. Malcolm鈥檚 List,鈥� $245,416.
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Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
