Thor Survives Major Fall

Dropoff is big but similar to those of other Disney superhero films
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 17, 2022 2:10 PM CDT
Thor Survives Major Fall
This image released by Marvel Studios shows Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth in a scene from "Thor: Love and Thunder."   (Jasin Boland/Marvel Studios-Disney via AP)

The Marvel sequel Thor: Love & Thunder dropped a hefty 68% in its second weekend of release but still held the top spot at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday, while the bestseller adaptation Where the Crawdads Sing debuted with a better-than-expected $17 million. Taika Waititi's Love and Thunder led all films with an estimated $46 million, bringing its two-week global total to $498 million, the AP reports. The sizable decline is more than most Marvel films but in line with recent releases from the Walt Disney Co. superhero studio, including Spider-Man: No Way Home (68%), Black Widow (68%) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (67%).

The best debut among the newcomers was by Sony Pictures' Where the Crawdads Sing, Olivia Newman's adaptation of Delia Owens' 2018 North Carolina-set novel. It opened well despite weak reviews (36% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). The Reese Witherspoon-produced mystery stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as a woman who raised herself in the coastal Carolina marshlands and focuses on a murder investigation of a local celebrity. Moviegoers liked it more than critics, giving it an A- CinemaScore. It was a particularly good result for a page-to-screen drama.

Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

  1. Thor: Love and Thunder, $46 million.
  2. Minions: The Rise of Gru, $26 million.
  3. Where the Crawdads Sing, $17 million.
  4. Top Gun: Maverick, $12 million.
  5. Elvis, $7.6 million.
  6. Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, $6.3 million.
  7. The Black Phone, $5.3 million.
  8. Jurassic: Dominion, $5 million.
  9. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, $1.9 million.
  10. Lightyear, $1.3 million.

(More box office stories.)

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