There’s only one wide release hitting theaters this weekend, Marvel and Disney’s Thor: The Dark World. It is the second Marvel film after The Avengers raised the profile of all the Marvel heroes and the studio is hoping that The Avengers’ success can propel The Dark World to do better than the original Thor.
The Dark World is in a very different position form Iron Man 3. The previous two Iron Man films had been blockbusters even before The Avengers, so a combination of the character’s popularity and Avengers helped that film make $409 million domestically. Thor, who is played by Chris Hemsworth, didn’t have the same level of popularity. The character’s solo film made $181 million in the U.S. in 2011. That means that even with The Avengers behind Thor, The Dark World isn’t likely to hit Iron Man 3 levels.
Entertainment Weekly is predicting a $91 million opening for the film, noting that a $100 million opening would be surprising. Tracking puts it a bit lower, at around $75 million, notes THR. Either way, it’s more than Thor’s $65.7 million opening.
Also worth noting, the film has been out overseas for days now and has made $133.4 million in under a week. There were also special screenings Thursday night at 3,841 locations and it also opens in China on Friday.
The rest of the Top 5 at the box office will be holdovers like Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa, which could make around $13 million in weekend two. Last Vegas, Ender’s Game and Free Birds will also hang around.
You can check out Trailer Park to take a look at the limited releases this weekend.
image: Amazon