«Thor: Ragnarok» has no trouble winning the box office for a second straight week, but it’s who ended up taking the silver that was interesting.
Disney/Marvel’s latest hit «Thor: Ragnarok» had no trouble winning the domestic box office for a second-straight weekend as it took in an estimated $57 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter, to bring its North American total to $209 million and over $600 million globally.
But it was the title that took second place that was interesting to watch over the weekend.
It came down to two titles that overachieved: 20th Century Fox’s «Murder on the Orient Express» and Paramount Picture’s «Daddy’s Home 2.»
Both came in with low scores on Rotten Tomatoes ( 58% for «Orient Express» and 16% for «Daddy’s Home 2») but that didn’t seem to matter as the movies, both playing on over 3,000 screens, have had almost identical figures going into Sunday.
«Orient Express,» the latest movie version of the Agatha Christie murder mystery novel that includes an all-star cast (Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Willem Dafoe, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Kenneth Branagh, who also directed the movie) took in $10.7 million on Friday (including $1.6 million in Thursday previews).
«Daddy’s Home» edged out «Orient Express» to take second place this weekend with a $30 million total versus $28.2 million, respectably.
However, both exceeded industry projections, which is puzzling seeing «Orient Express» catered to the 30+ crowd and «Daddy’s Home 2» is a sequel to a somewhat forgettable original. But it looks like the star power in both titles helped get people to the theater.
Both titles should find more coin as they head into the Thanksgiving holiday.
Around the top 10 this weekend, STX Films’ «Bad Moms Christmas» had a very strong second weekend, only dropping 31% (strongest second weekend hold of any comedy this year) with a $11.5 million take. And A24’s «Lady Bird» looks to have the potential of being a big earner. Expanding to 37 screens this weekend, it had a $33,000 per-screen average taking in $1.2 million .
