Thor: Love and Thunder Has Franchise's Biggest Debut

Marvel hit still trails its Doctor Strange
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 10, 2022 1:25 PM CDT
Thor: Love and Thunder Has Franchise's Biggest Debut
This image released by Marvel Studios shows Natalie Portman, left, and Chris Hemsworth in "Thor: Love and Thunder."   (Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios-Disney via AP)

Four movies in, Thor is still bringing the hammer down at the box office. Thor: Love and Thunder earned $143 million in its opening weekend in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday. It's a franchise best for the god of thunder and another success story of the summer 2022 box office season, the AP reports. The second Thor movie directed by Taika Waititi opened on 4,375 screens, starting with Thursday previews. It easily topped the box office, bumping Minions: The Rise of Gru into second place. Including international showings, where Love and Thunder opened in 47 territories starting in the middle of last week, its global total is already at $302 million.

The Thor franchise has grown with each subsequent film, which is a rarity in franchise filmmaking in general but not uncommon for those of the Marvel variety. At this point, "It's unheard of for a Marvel movie not to open at No. 1," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. Critics skewed mostly positive, and the Rotten Tomatoes score is currently sitting at 68% fresh. Audiences gave the film a B+ CinemaScore. Love and Thunder brings back Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, and Natalie Portman and also features Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. It boasts the biggest production budget of the Thor films, at a reported $250 million. It's still not the biggest Marvel opening of the year; Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness debuted to $185 million in early May.

Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

  1. Thor: Love and Thunder, $143 million.
  2. Minions: The Rise of Gru, $45.6 million.
  3. Top Gun: Maverick, $15.5 million.
  4. Elvis, $11 million.
  5. Jurassic World: Dominion, $8.4 million.
  6. The Black Phone, $7.7 million.
  7. Lightyear, $2.9 million.
  8. Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, $340,000.
  9. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, $262,000.
  10. Mr. Malcolm's List, $245,416.
(More box office stories.)

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