'Thor: Ragnarok' Heads for a Monster Weekend
by EG
It looks like Thor: Ragnarok is going to be that rare 2017 movie that rakes in more than $100 million in its opening weekend. The Marvel franchise installment is getting great reviews from critics and plenty of advance interest from audiences. The prospects are not as good, however, for comedy sequel A Bad Moms Christmas, which is getting neither.
Marvel Studios and Disney's critical darling Thor: Ragnarok is expected to rouse the U.S. box office back to life this weekend with a $100 million-plus, well ahead of the first two films.
Directed by acclaimed New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi, the threequel sees the Asgardian god (Chris Hemsworth) team up with brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and pal Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) to fight the goddess of death, Hela (Cate Blanchett). Idris Elba and Anthony Hopkins also star.
Thor: Ragnarok currently boasts a 97 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes — the top score of any film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (sorry, Iron Man and Captain America).
Overseas, the event film opened to a thunderous $109 million last weekend from about 50 percent of the international marketplace. It debuts in the rest of the world this weekend, including China.
In North America, Thor: Ragnarok will play in 4,080 theaters, including on 391 Imax screens. All 16 MCU movies have opened to No. 1, and Ragnarok won't be any different. Waititi's film also should have no trouble securing the top opening for a superhero film unfurling in November. Thor: The Dark World, released in November 2013, is the current record-holder with $85.7 million, followed by fellow MCU title Doctor Strange ($85 million).
The first Thor launched to $65.7 million in May 2011, making Thor: Ragnarok the rare franchise installment to wield a heavier hammer than previous installments, should all go as planned.
In terms of top November openings among any film, installments in the The Hunger Games and Twilight top the chart, led by The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ($158.1 million).
The other major new offering is STXfilms' A Bad Moms Christmas, which opted to open the sequel on Wednesday to provide some distance from Thor. Going after women, the R-rated comedy is expected to post a five-day debut in the $22 million-$25 million range from 3,615 theaters, on par with the first Bad Moms ($23.8 million).
So far, reviews are decidedly mixed. The film currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 28 percent.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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