Thor: Love and Thunder has put up a worthy showing at the global box office, racking up a total of US$302 million in its first weekend. According to Variety, the fourth standalone Marvel story about Chris Hemsworth’s Asgardian superhero hammered home a silver screen victory with a US$143 million debut in North America, and another US$159 million internationally.
Despite falling slightly behind domestic estimates of US$150 million, the film still notably enjoyed a bigger start than its predecessor, Thor: Ragnarok, which opened to US$123 million in North America in 2017. It also sits just behind Jurassic World: Dominion (US$145 million) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (US$185 million) for the third-biggest opening weekend of the year.
Joining the superhero movie on the charts is the second-place Minions: The Rise of Gru with a US$45.5 million earning in its second weekend. As it stands, the fifth entry in the Despicable Me franchise has brought in US$210 million in North America and US$399.8 million globally. In third placing is Top Gun: Maverick, as it continues to add another US$15.5 million to its already impressive overseas haul of over US$1.18 billion.
Thor: Love and Thunder sees the return of Taika Waititi on the director’s chair, and follows the titular God of Thunder as he teams up with his former lover, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who now yields her own hammer as the Mighty Thor. Toge-thor, they embark on a journey to defeat Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale) before he carries out the ultimate plan to purge the universe of all things divine.
The film has two post-credits scenes and a series of character cameos, but falls short in its quest to appeal to both audiences and critics, scoring 68 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a “B+” CinemaScore. In contrast, Ragnarok, which was also directed by Waititi, landed a 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and an “A-” CinemaScore.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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