The Marvel Universe continues to print money for Disney, as Thor: Ragnarok casually smashed a few box office records en route to a projected $118 million opening weekend. Across the board critical acclaim and occupying upwards of 4,000 screens gave the latest installment in the Thor franchise the jump with earnings of $46 million Friday.
For comparison’s sake, the first Thor film in 2011 generated $65 million in 2011, and 2013’s Thor: The Dark World opened to $85 million. If the projections hold up, Marvel Studios will be the first production studio in box office history to release three films with $100 million-plus openings in a calendar year. Spiderman: Homecoming, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and, pending this weekend’s numbers, Thor: Ragnarok all cleared the $100 million mark. Topping the $85 million 2015’s Dr. Strange earned also means Thor: Ragnarok is now Marvel’s biggest November opening.
“The third Thor film will rival Spider-Man: Homecoming as the second-best opening in 2017 for Marvel,” noted Erin Nyren of Variety.
It’s an even more impressive haul, as Nancy Tartaglione of Deadline reportsThor: Ragnarok has earned $427 million worldwide. Those figures are no doubt bolstered by a $55.6 million opening weekend in China.
A Bad Mom’s Christmas took a very distant second spot with $20 million in first-week earnings. While the leftover Halloween vehicles Jigsaw and Boo! 2: A Madea Halloween brought up the rear with opening weekends of $6 million and $4.5 million respectively.
