The numbers are finally in and it looks like Thor: Ragnarok might beat out Spider-Man: Homecoming to become the second-best opening of 2017 for Marvel Studios. While it is not close to beating out Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s $146 million, it is projected pass Homecoming‘s $117 million. What is pushing this film’s expectations from the previous $90 to $100 million is that a third of the audience wants to see the film again, according to PostTrack. It seems the inclusion of Hulk really paid off for this film’s overall direction, as he seems to have pulled in quite a chunk of the audience.

Overall, Ragnarok was able to garner $46.819 million in its opening day, which includes the Thursday previews od $14.5 million. The threequel managed to top last Novembers’ Doctor Strange by 41% and beat out the last installment in the franchise The Dark World by 44%. At first, this put the potential for its opening weekend far ahead of its early predictions. Estimates have softened a bit with predictions for a potential $118 million after it’s Friday gross, which would put it slightly ahead of Homecoming.

However, it seems that word-of-mouth was so strong that the film is now 2017’s second-highest opener for Marvel Studios with $121 Million. This is not only a fantastic start for the holiday season but also a slight relieve for 2017’s overall Box Office, which has seen its worst October in a decade. The film has now nearly doubled the original Thor‘s opening weekend and it’s 41% ahead of The Dark World.

This combined with the $306 million it made overseas, even surpassing Guardians Vol. 2 in markets like Mexico and China, the film has now earned $427 million internationally. It has passed Homecoming‘s opening weekend and it could potentially pass that film’s total income.

It currently has a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes of 93% and audiences seem to love the latest entry into the Thor franchise, as it got an A CinemaScore. This may be a good sign that the film has some strong legs moving forward, as it faces some tough competition with Justice League. The upcoming weeks will see if the word-of-mouth is strong enough to get more viewers into theatres, as well as have some wanting to see it again.

How much do you think it’ll make? Did you see the movie opening weekend?

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, Forbes, Deadline, Variety, BoxOfficeMojo

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