The god of thunder is poised to shock awake a sleepy box office with this weekend's Thor: Ragnarok. Like most eagerly anticipated blockbusters, the Marvel films tend to draw fans out who want to see the film as early as possible for Thursday night preview screenings. Thor: Ragnarok has continued this trend with a strong performance Thursday night, bringing in $14.5 million and setting the stage for a huge weekend haul.
As The Wrap reported, Thor: Ragnarok pulled in this haul from Thursday night preview screenings that started at 7pm. Thor: Ragnarok surpassed the opening for its predecessor Thor: The Dark World's $7.1 million opening, as well as last November's MCU film Doctor Strange which earned $9.4 million from preview showings. While it was reported that Thor: Ragnarok was outpacing Spider-Man: Homecoming, this opening fell just shy of that film's July opening which earned $15.4 million for the web-slingers long awaited solo debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thor: Ragnarok is on track to surge past $100 million for its opening weekend, easily besting Thor and Thor: The Dark World which earned $65.7million and $85.7 million respectively.
The film has already opened overseas and set the stage for a thunderous global tally. Thor: Ragnarok has received pretty universally positive reviews thus far, and should have excellent word of mouth to drive business as well as repeat viewings. Thor: Ragnarok won't face much competition either until Warner Bros. Justice League finally arrives on November 17th. While Thor's solo outings have never generated the level of excitement as Iron Man and Captain America's films, the change of tone for the series thanks to the hiring of director Taika Waititi is a welcome one. A doom and gloom cataclysmic event may not have brought in the audiences in the same way that Taika Waititi's 80's style cosmic adventure is poised to. Also, the Avenger has been out of the MCU for a while, and his return along with the Hulk's seems to have gotten fans amped to see the character on the big screen again.
Thor: Ragnarok stars Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Cate Blanchett, Tessa Thompson, Tom Hiddleston and Jeff Goldblum. The film follows Thor as he fights for survival and gathers allies to take on the Hela, the goddess of death and prevent her from destroying Asgard. This universe-spanning road film also marks the second to last MCU film before Avengers: Infinity War.
Be sure check out everything you need to know before seeing Thor: Ragnarok and whether or not you should see the flick in 3d. You can pre-order your tickets to see Thor: Ragnarok this weekend here and don't forget to read our analysis of the end credits scene once you've seen the film.
