Thor: Love and Thundermay be hitting some enviable financial targets, but despite another solid weekend at the box office, Taika Waititi’s second MCU film met a substantial drop-off in theaters, even though there was very little competition out there.
During its opening weekend in the United States,Thor: Love and Thundercollected $143 million in revenue adding up to a grand total of $302 million worldwide, thus beating the commercial performance of the three previous movies starring Thor Odinson. Nevertheless, since its premiere,Thor: Love and Thunderhas come across an unusually mixed reception, both among critics and fans who feel the filmsimply doesn’t hold up toThor: Ragnarok.
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Apparently, that’s beginning to show at the box office too, asThor: Love and Thunder’s second weekend sees Thor experience a 68% decline among moviegoers. While this is a common figure for practically any film, the impact ofThor: Love and Thunder’s second-weekend drop might be a bit more dramatic due to how the film’s earnings stack up versus the latest two Marvel Studios hits,Spider-Man: No Way HomeandDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In its second round in American theaters, Thor generated $46 million going up against newcomersWhere the Crawdads SingandPaws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, as well asMinions: The Rise of Gru.
Comparatively speaking,Spider-Man: No Way Homeearned $260M during its opening weekend, one of the best ever, while theDoctor Strangesequel raked in $452.4M worldwide ($187.4M USA and Canada). That said,Spider-Manmanaged to maintain interest for quite a long time as the top film at the box office for several weeks. Just likeBlack Widow, which also saw a 68% drop-off,Thor: Love and Thunderis unlikely to experience such a lengthy run in theaters, especially due to the wave of negative reviews.
Make no mistake, there’sa lot to love aboutThor: Love and Thunder, but regardless of that, the film’s tone has rendered an even more divisive entry in the MCU thanDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which also failed to unanimously win over fans. The box office trends do speak of a larger problem for Marvel Studios, as Phase Four movies, even those that turn out to be largely profitable, continue to fail in luring audiences as large as the Infinity Saga, raising the question of whether the MCU has already peaked.
There’s an argument to be had over whetherThor: Love and Thunderis actually a romcom, or at least succeeds far more in that genre than as a superhero movie, although others might argue Thor’s MCU character arc is better complemented by it. In any case, with or without Waititi, Thor will be back for another classic adventure.
Thor: Love and Thunderis now playing in theaters.
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