Box Office: 'Thor 2' Debuts at No. 1 with $86.1 Mil Domestic, $327 Mil Worldwide
Credit: Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures
Thor: The Dark World lit up the weekend box office, debuting at No. 1 with $86.1 million domestically, $327 million worldwide.
This total is a remarkable improvement over the first Thor, which opened with $65.7 million domestically in May 2011, though it would go on to gross $449.3 million globally. Thor: The Dark World achieved one of the biggest November openings of all time in North America, though it felt just short of the $88.4 million earned by Skyfall last year.
In reaching the $327 million total, the film brought in $240.9 million internationally, earning $24.1 million in Russia, $22.6 million in the U.K., and $19.6 million in China, though the film amassed its impressive totals through a combination of those three key markets and multiple, smaller international markets.
"It played in an unconventional way," said Disney's distribution chief Dave Hollis. "The franchise is moving away from just fanboys and crossing into the mainstream in a way that makes out-of-school, out-of-work Saturday shows super lucrative. The combination of storytelling and a very successful, inspired marketing campaign made it appeal to the broadest possible audience."
Though most studios tried to stay away from releasing new movies on the same weekend as Thor, the holdovers from last week didn't do too badly. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa brought in $11.3 million for the weekend, upping its domestic gross to $78.2 million in its third weekend, followed by Free Birds ($11.2 million) and Last Vegas ($11.1 million).
The news was even good among smaller releases, as Steve McQueen's Oscar frontrunner 12 Years a Slave expanded from 410 to 1,144 theaters, which netted the film an additional $6.6 million to land at No. 7. Meanwhile, Captain Phillips continued its march towards the $100 million mark, grossing $5.8 million this weekend to bring its domestic total to $91 million and earning it the No. 8 spot.
However, the news wasn't great for everyone. Last week's No. 1, Ender's Game, dropped all the way down to No. 5, earning $10.3 million for a domestic gross of $44 million. The film had performed well enough last week, and looked as though it might be able to make back its $110 million production budget if numbers could remain consistent in week two. But that doesn't appear to be the case, and now the potential franchise-starter could end up being a loss for Lionsgate, which would kill the series' franchise prospects outright.
The full Top 10:
1. Thor: The Dark World ($86.1 million)
2. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa ($11.3 million)
3. Free Birds ($11.2 million)
4. Last Vegas ($11.1 million)
5. Ender's Game ($10.3 million)
6. Gravity ($8.4 million)
7. 12 Years a Slave ($6.6 million)
8. Captain Phillips ($5.8 million)
9. About Time ($5.2 million)
10. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 ($2.8 million)
Via: Box Office Mojo / The Hollywood Reporter