Box Office: Thor: Love and Thunder Sparking Up 2022s Third-Biggest Domestic Opening
Disney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” is hammering competition at the domestic box office, projecting an opening north of $135 million from 4,375 theaters. That would be a step up from the stormy superhero’s previous solo outing, “Thor: Ragnarok,” which opened to $122.7 million in 2017.
Should estimates hold, “Love and Thunder” will mark the 12th biggest debut for a Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, between 2017’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” ($146.5 million) and 2010’s “Iron Man 2” ($128.1 million). It would also score the third highest domestic opening of the year, behind Universal’s “Jurassic World Dominion” ($145 million) and Disney’s own “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($187.4 million).
The fourth installment in Thor’s MCU story got off to a mighty strong start with a $69.5 million gross on opening day, which includes $29 million in Thursday previews.
As is the case with any Marvel Studios film, “Love and Thunder” cost a pretty penny, carrying a $250 million production price tag. And, as is the case with almost any Marvel Studios film, it shouldn’t be long before the movie recoups those costs in ticket sales.
Critics have been much less receptive to “Love and Thunder” than the usual Marvel entry. The film currently holds a 51% approval aggregate from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman enjoyed the entry though, praising Waititi’s direction for having “the wit to see that if you aren’t mocking a Marvel movie as you’re making one, you might be taking it more seriously than the audience does.”
While audiences are warmer to “Love and Thunder” than critics, the film doesn’t seem to be drawing the same level of enthusiasm that greets most Marvel movies. “Love and Thunder” scored a “B+” grade from research firm Cinema Score, indicating a firmly favorable opinion among ticket buyers. However, 25 out of the 28 prior entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have earned Cinema Score grades of “A-” or higher, with 2011’s “Thor” and this year’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” drawing “B+” grades and last fall’s “Eternals” scoring a franchise-low “B.”
How word-of-mouth is impacting the film’s run won’t be evidenced until next weekend, but it wouldn’t be ill-advised to set expectations a tad lower for now. Regardless, even with just this impressive opening, “Love and Thunder” will land firmly among the highest grossing releases of the year.
“Ragnarok” director Taika Waititi returns for “Love and Thunder,” which stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, his on-again, off-again love interest, who also takes on the title of Thor in this one. In this chapter of the “Thor” story, the exes must band together in order to defeat Gorr the God Butcher, played by Christian Bale.
Universal’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” should fall to second in its sophomore outing. The studio is projecting a $47.2 million haul, marking a 56% fall from its stellar $107 million debut.
The spinoff following the babbling yellow Tic Tac creatures is already the biggest animated release at the box office since 2019’s “Frozen II.” The film should expand its domestic gross beyond $200 million through the weekend.
Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” continues its run of solid holds, with the studio projecting a 44% dip for the Tom Cruise sequel in its seventh weekend.
More to come…
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