The next entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is almost here, but how will it stack up against the box office success of its predecessors? It's going to have a massive opening weekend, because it doesn't just open in North America next week. In fact, Thor: Ragnarok is opening in several countries this week, but when it bows domestically, it will also open in Japan and box office powerhouse China. This has analysts eyeing an estimated weekend of up to $100 million internationally, if not more.
The expected range for Thor: Ragnarok's international bow is something between $85-$100 million, though, as Deadline reports, some think it might actually exceed the high end of that range. This will be a significant increase for the Thor franchise, as the last film, Thor: The Dark World, saw a combined opening of $79 million across the same set of international markets. That film ended with a total global take of $645 million. Doctor Strange, which opened in the same window last year ended up doing $88 million in the same international markets, so it looks like Ragnarok is looking to follow suit.
When combined with the expected $100 million that Thor: Ragnarok is expected to do in North America, then the god of thunder is looking at $200 million or more when it opens next weekend. This will be added to whatever the movie makes in Brazil, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, Korea, Australia in Brazil, where the film opens this week.
Thor: Ragnarok sees the title character, played by Chris Hemsworth, fighting to prevent the end of the universe at the hands of Hela, the goddess of death. In addition to returning Thor film mainstays like Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Idris Elba as Heimdall, Thor will also be joined by newcomer Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie and his fellow Avenger The Incredible Hulk, Mark Ruffalo.
Thor: Ragnarok has been getting overwhelmingly positive buzz leading into its release, which likely has a lot to do with its box office tracking better than the previous installments. At the moment, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes only lists two negative reviews of the film. While the previous Thor films have reviewed favorably, neither of the previous entries has been received quite so warmly. It would seem that the decision to bring in director Taika Waititi and go for a slightly different tone was the right call for Marvel Studios.
November is going to feel like summer with two major superhero movies on the way. Thor: Ragnarok will be followed closely by Justice League. While the latter film is likely to surpass Thor at the box office, it will be interesting to see how close the competition is.
