Disney and Marvel’s ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ debuted in a strong fashion, taking in over $120 million in its opening weekend, November 3-5.
With an estimated $121 million, the third installment in ‘Thor’ series exceeded $100-110 million projections, Bboxofficemojo.com reported.
It delivered the seventh largest opening for a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, topping the $117 million debut for ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ earlier this year. It also debuted with $35+ million more than ‘Thor: The Dark World’ (the second in the series released in 2013).
The debut also marks a $35-million increase over ‘Doctor Strange’, another Marvel production, on the same first November weekend in 2016.
Ragnarok’s overall domestic run can reach over $330 million if it merely holds to the average, but it may play a bit better thanks, in large part, to strong reviews and opening weekend audience reception.
The opening weekend audiences were 56% male vs. 44% female, and of the overall audience, 63% were over the age of 25.
Internationally, in its second weekend the film is now playing in nearly the entire international marketplace as it debuted in Germany, Russia, Mexico, China and Japan and brought in an estimated $151.4 million for an overseas gross of $306 million since opening last weekend. Overall, this pushes the film’s global cume to $427 million.
Among Thor’s new markets this weekend, the estimated $55.6 million opening in China is the largest ever for a November release as is the film’s estimated $5.2 million debut in India.
Additional openings saw an estimated $10.8 million in Mexico, $8.9 million in Germany, $3.5 million in Japan and $3.7 million in Russia.
Ragnarok signifies the 17th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its performance has now pushed the franchise over $13 billion globally and over $5 billion domestically.
Such is the dominance of comic adaptations. The first installment in the series, the superhero film ‘Thor’ was made in 2011 based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name.
In ‘Ragnarok’, the mighty Thor, imprisoned on the other side of the universe, finds himself in a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor’s quest for survival leads him in a race against time to prevent his home world from destruction by his foe Hela.
