The success of Marvel’s third ‘Thor’ movie was a welcome shot in the arm for Hollywood after a dismal October
New York — “Thor: Ragnarok” thundered to one of the year’s best box-office debuts with an estimated $121 million domestically, proving again — just as its flexing its muscle — the might of the Walt Disney Co.
The robust debut for Marvel’s third “Thor” movie was a welcome shot in the arm for Hollywood and theater owners who have suffered through a historically dismal August and terrible October at the box office. “Thor: Ragnarok” also bucked the trend of diminishing returns for sequels. The 2011 “Thor” debuted with $65.7 million; 2013’s “Thor: The Dark World” opened with $85.7 million.
The weekend’s other new nationwide release, STX Entertainment’s “A Bad Moms Christmas,” opened with $17 million over the weekend and $21.6 million since opening Wednesday, according to studio estimates Sunday. The holiday-themed sequel, which returns stars Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn, came in shy of the 2016 original’s $23.8 million opening.
But the big story was “Thor,” which also grossed $151.4 million in its second week of international release. The film has, in 10 days, made $427 million worldwide.
Disney isn’t alone in being able to roll out such blockbusters, but it has three of the year’s five $100 million-plus releases. (Disney’s other two are “Beauty and the Beast” and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”).
