Disney’s Thor: Love and Thunder is coming in at the lower end of box office projections — some might even argue that it’s underperforming. But even when a Marvel movie doesn’t hit the astronomical box office benchmarks expected of it, it’s still going to be a bigger hit that most films. With $69.5 on Friday (including $29 million from Thursday previews), Love and Thunder is on its way to a three-day box office debut of at least $135 million. This puts it ahead of the $122.7 million that Thor: Ragnarok made in 2017, but behind the $150 million to $170 million that it was expected to make going into the weekend.
Depending on whether it is able to overtake Jurassic World Dominion’s $145 million debut once the dust settles on the weekend, Love and Thunder will claim either the second or third spot on the list of the year’s biggest domestic debuts. Disney’s own Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness currently sits at number one, with $187 million. Love and Thunder is, however, pacing ahead of fellow superhero tentpole The Batman ($134 million).
But despite belonging to essentially the same genre, the two films couldn’t be more different. Love and Thunder continues the irreverent rebranding on the previously stoic character, with director Taika Waititi returning at the helm. But this time around, the reviews haven’t been as kind as they were when Ragnarok infused the franchise with a sense of fun.
Love and Thunder’s estimated $135 million opening weekend puts it at number 12 on the list of the biggest Marvel debuts, between Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5 million) and Iron Man 2 ($128.1 million). The film comes with a huge $250 million price-tag, and its worrying B+ CinemaScore from opening day audiences certainly doesn’t bode well for its long-term performance. Marvel films are typically more crowd-pleasing.
Universal is projecting a 56% drop for last week’s top film Minions: The Rise of Gru, which is looking at a $47 million second weekend finish, taking its running domestic total to an estimated $211 million by Sunday. Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick is looking at yet another soft drop. Now in its seventh weekend, the legacy sequel is expected to add $14.6 million, taking its running domestic total to within a hair of breaching the $600 million mark. This would make it one of only a handful of movies to have passed the milestone. Maverick is already the year’s biggest film, both internationally and domestically.
Director Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis should take the fourth spot, falling 38% from the previous Friday and adding $3.3 million to the bank. The frenetic biopic is expected to pass $90 million at the domestic box office by Sunday, after an estimated $11 million weekend haul. Dominion will round out the top five, falling 50% from the previous weekend, and pushing its running domestic total to nearly $350 million.
Expect Love and Thunder to dominate the box office for at least a couple of weeks, until Jordan Peele’s new social thriller, Nope, blazes into theaters later this month. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go8nTmfrQd8