‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Reigns Supreme with Massive $121 Million Opening

  Nothing makes money like Disney. As Beauty and the Beast continues to reign supreme at the 2017 domestic box office, Thor: Ragnarok now has the fourth biggest domestic opening of 2017 with a whopping $121 million, outpacing most estimates by a solid $5 million or so. That places it right below Andy Muschietti‘s It, which brought in some $123 million in its opening weekend, on the list of 2017 opening and sticks Taika Waititi‘s film right between Spider-Man: Homecoming ($117 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 ($146 million) on the Marvel 2017 opening charts.

It feels genuinely unfair to compare the rest of the top five to this kind of predictable blow-out. A Bad Moms Christmas, the only other new release that played wide this weekend, came in at second with a total of $21 million after debuting on Wednesday. That still leaves a gap of some $99.4 million between the amiable, forgettable sequel and Ragnarok, one of the best movies that the MCU has produced thus far. In its second frame, Jigsaw came in at third with $6.7, up against Tyler Perry‘s Boo 2! at fourth with $4.6 million and Geostorm at fifth with $3 million. Combined, those three films made two-thirds of what A Bad Moms Christmas made.


In total, Ragnarok is now sitting on an international gross of $427 million, which would cover the production budget of $180 million twice over as well as any and all marketing costs. The $4 billion or so that Disney paid to buy Marvel is paying off big time, as the House of Mouse and its subsidiaries now lay claim to the first and third most profitable domestic films of 2017. Depending on how Thor: Ragnarok competes against next weekend’s Murder on the Orient Express and then Justice League the weekend after, it may very well have three of the highest domestic grossing movies of 2017 before November closes. By the time Star Wars: The Last Jedi does its business, Disney will have   anywhere from 3-5 of the highest grossing movies of 2017, as compared to the five films that Disney had in the top ten highest grossing movies of 2016 domestically. So, even if Ragnarok doesn’t quite make it into the top ten by 2017’s close, Disney’s grasp on the movie business will continue on to my simultaneous horror and wonder.

Here’s the top five for the weekend:

Title                                         Weekend Domestic BO Total Domestic BO
1. ‘Thor: Ragnarok’                 $121,005,000 $121,005,000
2. ‘A Bad Moms Christmas’    $17,030,000 $21,556,106
3. ‘Jigsaw’                                       $6,700,000 $28,836,471
4. ‘Tyler Perry’s Boo 2! A Madea Halloween’ $4,650,000 $42,958,423
5. ‘Geostorm’                               $3,035,000 $28,770,341