Thor: Ragnarok Smashes Box Office Records

Variety.com: Disney-Marvel’s “Thor: Ragnarok” is set to smash the fall box office stupor, hauling in a massive $118 million at 4,080 North American locations.

The third “Thor” film will rival “Spider-Man: Homecoming” as the second-best opening in 2017 for Marvel, with Friday showings reeling in around $45 million including $14.5 from Thursday previews. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” takes the top spot for Marvel, having opened at $146 million back in May; “Spider-Man” brought in about $117 million in its opening weekend in July.

The film is certified “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes at a 93%, the seventh Marvel film to receive the “fresh” rating.

Taika Waititi directed “Thor: Ragnarok” from a screenplay by Eric Pearson and the writing team of Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. It stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, and Anthony Hopkins. The character of Thor, based on Norse mythology, was created in 1962 by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber, and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics.

STXfilms’ “A Bad Moms Christmas,” which opened Wednesday, will take second place at the box office this weekend at $15 million, bringing it to about $20 million for its first five days. The holiday comedy, starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn, opened with a moderate $4.5 million at 3,615 North American sites on Wednesday and Thursday.

Audiences gave the movie a B CinemaScore, while the original “Bad Moms” received an A when it opened in July of 2016. This time around, the three characters’ mothers, played by Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines, and Susan Sarandon, unexpectedly show up for the holidays.

The second weekend of Lionsgate’s “Jigsaw” is set to capture another $6 million, bringing the North American total to $28.3 million. Lionsgate’s second Halloween offering, “Boo 2! A Madea Halloween,” will pull in a respectable $4 million in its third frame, upping its domestic take to $42.7 million.

Warner Bros.’ “Geostorm” rounds out the weekend in fifth place, adding around $3 million to raise its North American cumulative total to $28.7 million.

Also opening in a limited release this weekend is A24’s well-reviewed “Lady Bird,” which at 4 locations is bringing in a respectable $323,000 after $108,000 in Friday showings. The Saoirse Ronan-starrer is currently at a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and marks Greta Gerwig’s directorial debut.