There are plenty of great things about being an American-- Democracy, Thanksgiving, living in a land where ice cream is plentiful. One thing that's less good is that those of us Stateside have to wait until Friday to see Thor: The Dark World while the people from 36 nations--from Chile to Norway, Taiwan to Jordan--have already had a chance to see what this star-stuffed sequel has in store. Disney opened the film overseas on October 30th, 31st, and November 1st, and according to THR it's already a hit. In just five days, Thor: The Dark World pulled in an estimated $109 million dollars and counting.
Representing 70% of the marketplace, this international unveiling not only shows Marvel movies are still a force to be reckoned with, but also pushes Disney over the $2.31 billion mark in overall foreign box office grosses for 2013. This is a new all-time record for the studio, made all the more impressive by the massive miss that was Lone Ranger. The Johnny Depp-fronted action-adventure cost a whopping $215 million to make and is estimated to flopped so hard that lost the House of Mouse $150 mil. That feature didn't bode well for Depp's star power, but Disney rebounded thanks to the big money-makers that were Oz The Great and Powerful, Monsters University, and Iron Man 3.
Thor: The Dark World is looking to be another big winner for Disney, but it'll be interesting to see if it's able to top Iron Man 3's hefty box office totals. By the end of its theatrical run, the Tony Stark adventure took in $1.2 billion worldwide, making it the fifth highest grossing movie of all time behind Avatar, Titanic, The Avengers, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Can Chris Hemsworth and company beat that?
It has a fighting chance, at least. Marvel movies continue to grow and thrive as a franchise, seemingly building steam with each new release. Secondly, Thor 2 features Loki, who is by far Marvel's best movie villain to date, and played by Tom Hiddleston who is full-on worshipped by fanboys and fangirls worldwide. Thor was voted the most popular Halloween costume among men and children, while Iron Man trailed as third in the first category and didn't even make the top five on the second. But perhaps most importantly, Thor 2 still has a major blow to strike in this box office battle, as the film will open this weekend in five major markets-- North America, China, Japan, Italy, and Argentina. Thor is the god of thunder, but by Monday he may be the god of box office domination as well.
Thor: The Dark World opens in the US on November 8th.
