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Disney’s Thor: Love and Thunder is pounding the competition at the domestic box office, forecasting a North opening of $135 million from 4,375 theaters. That would be a boost from the fierce superhero’s previous solo outing Thor: Ragnarok, which opened in 2017 with $122.7 million.
If the estimates are correct, Love and Thunder will be the 12th-biggest debut for an entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5 million) and Iron Man 2 from the Marvel Cinematic Universe Year 2010 ($128.1 million). It would also garner the third highest three-day 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 of Thor’s MCU story got off to a mighty strong start with gross profits of $69.5 million on opening day, including $29 million in Thursday previews.
As with every Marvel Studios film, “Love and Thunder” cost a pretty penny and carried a production price of $250 million. And like almost every Marvel Studios film, it shouldn’t be long before the film recoups that cost in global ticket sales.
Critics were a lot less receptive to “Love and Thunder” than the usual Marvel entry. The film currently has an approval rating of 51% from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. diversity Chief film critic Owen Gleiberman enjoyed the entry, however, and praised Taika Waititi’s direction for having “the wit to realize that if you’re not mocking them while you’re making one, you might be taking a Marvel film more seriously than the audience.” . ”
While audiences are warmer to “Love and Thunder” than critics, the film doesn’t seem to garner the same level of enthusiasm that greets most Marvel films. “Love and Thunder” received a “B+” rating from research firm Cinema Score, indicating a distinctly positive opinion among ticket buyers. However, 25 of the 28 previous entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have received a Cinema Score rating of A- or higher, with 2011’s Thor and this year’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness being rated B+ Last fall’s “Eternals” scored a franchise low “B”.
How word of mouth will affect the film’s run won’t be seen until next weekend, but it wouldn’t be ill-advised to set expectations a little lower for now. Regardless, just by considering that impressive opening alone, “Love and Thunder” will firmly land among the highest-grossing releases of the year.
Ragnarok director Waititi returns for Love and Thunder, which stars Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Natalie Portman as Jane Foster, his recurring love interest, who also takes the title Thor in this film. In this chapter of the “Thor” story, the ex-boyfriends must team up to defeat Gorr the God Butcher, played by Christian Bale.
Universal’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” would fall to second place on its second appearance. The studio is forecasting earnings of $47.2 million, down 56% from its stellar debut of $107 million.
The spin-off, based on the babbling yellow Tic Tac creatures, is already the biggest animated release at the box office since 2019’s Frozen II. The Illumination production was expected to surpass $200 million in domestic gross by the weekend.
Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick continues its streak of solid holds, with the studio forecasting the Tom Cruise sequel to be down 44% in its seventh weekend. The film was expected to boost its domestic gross to $596 million this weekend, bringing it closer to its 12th release ever to surpass $600 million in North America.
On the all-time domestic box office charts, “Maverick” is currently within striking distance of Disney’s “The Incredibles 2,” which ended its domestic run with $608 million in the tank. After that, the Paramount release seems to put a dent in the all-time top 10, aiming to surpass “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” ($608 million) and “The Avengers” ($620 million). . For now, Maverick will have to be content with being the highest-grossing release of 2022 at the global box office.
“Elvis” should finish fourth for the weekend. The Warner Bros. biopic. is expected to drop a respectable 38% on its third Friday, adding $3.3 million to its yield. The Baz Luhrmann-directed biopic will surpass $90 million in domestic gross by Sunday. Elvis could overtake Paramount’s $105 million domestically-grossing The Lost City to become the year’s biggest non-franchise North American release (although the film is essentially about how Presley got into a franchise became in and of itself).
Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion looks to round out the top five, falling 50% in its fifth weekend of release. The Dino sequel is set to make a domestic gross of $350 million in the coming days. It now seems unlikely that Dominion will be able to match the $417 million North American success of its 2018 predecessor, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. However, the film is approaching Warner Bros.’ The Batman ($369 million) is set to be one of the top three domestic releases of the year.
