“Thor: Love and Thunder,” the second major Marvel movie to debut in 2022, topped the domestic box office in its first weekend in theaters, bolstering Walt Disney Co.’s return to the big screen two years into the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Love and Thunder” generated $143 million in ticket sales over the weekend, researcher Comscore Inc. estimated Sunday. That’s Disney’s second-best domestic debut this year and in line with the $135 million to $165 million researcher Boxoffice Pro had forecast. The studio also projected ticket sales within that range.
The movie helped Disney shake off the poor performance of its last theatrical debut, Pixar’s “Lightyear,” which slid to seventh place over the weekend.
“Love and Thunder” tells the story of the comic-book character, a superhero based off the Norse mythology. It’s the fourth film in a series that began with “Thor” in 2011. Chris Hemsworth returns as the title role, while the movie also stars Tessa Thompson, Natalie Portman and Christian Bale.
The movie was a middle-of-the-road debut for a Marvel project. It had a smaller domestic opening than “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which took in $187 million in May. But it did better than the last film focused on the character, “Thor: Ragnarok,” which opened to $123 million in November 2017. “Love and Thunder” has a 68% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, on a par with “Ragnarok.”
Disney has had a patchy return to theaters, after sending many of its new movies straight to its Disney+ streaming service during the pandemic. Last month its animated film “Lightyear” opened in second place with $51 million in ticket sales, a far weaker debut than analysts expected.
“Minions: Rise of Gru,” which broke a Fourth of July record in its opening last weekend, fell to second place. It made $45.6 million, Comscore estimated. The movie has become popular on TikTok, helping drive ticket sales.
