Disney and Marvel came through on schedule with the most positive box office news since It two months ago. Thor: Ragnarok‘s opening take of $121 million for exceeded $100-110 million projections. The third time out for Thor is not only the top-performer for the sub-franchise, but the second-best ever for Marvel outside the May-August period — only Deadpool in February was bigger.
Such is the dominance of comic adaptations that this impressive total is only the 19th-best opening in adjusted numbers. But for 2017, Ragnarok grossed $18 million more than the year’s top genre entry Wonder Woman, which sits at #2 for 2017, behind Beauty and the Beast.
This debut also marks a $35-million increase over Doctor Strange, another Marvel entry, on the same first November weekend in 2016. And it comes parallel to a worldwide take (in the second weekend many markets) of $427 million so far.
