Thor: Love and Thunder may 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 Thunder collected $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 Thunder has come across an unusually mixed reception, both among critics and fans who feel the film simply doesn’t hold up to Thor: Ragnarok.
Apparently, that’s beginning to show at the box office too, as Thor: 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 of Thor: 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 Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In its second round in American theaters, Thor generated $46 million going up against newcomers Where the Crawdads Sing and Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, as well as Minions: The Rise of Gru.
Comparatively speaking, Spider-Man: No Way Home earned $260M during its opening weekend, one of the best ever, while the Doctor Strange sequel raked in $452.4M worldwide ($187.4M USA and Canada). That said, Spider-Man managed to maintain interest for quite a long time as the top film at the box office for several weeks. Just like Black Widow, which also saw a 68% drop-off, Thor: Love and Thunder is unlikely to experience such a lengthy run in theaters, especially due to the wave of negative reviews.
Make no mistake, there’s a lot to love about Thor: Love and Thunder, but regardless of that, the film’s tone has rendered an even more divisive entry in the MCU than Doctor 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 whether Thor: Love and Thunder is 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 Thunder is now playing in theaters.
Source: Deadline