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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 6 noveMber 2017
In $121M debut, ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and Disney flex their might

By JAKE COYLE rating from Rotten Toma-
AP Film Writer toes and an “A’’ CinemaS-
NEW YORK (AP) — “Thor: core from audiences.
Ragnarok” thundered to Waititi, 42, is a veteran of the
one of the year’s best box- cult comedy series “Flight
office debuts with an esti- of the Concords” and has
mated $121 million domes- previously directed largely
tically, proving again — just offbeat irreverent indies
as its flexing its muscle — like the deadpan vampire
the might of the Walt Dis- tale “What We Do in the
ney Co. The robust debut Shadows” and the oddball
for the third “Thor” movie outlaw comedy “Hunt for
was a welcome shot in the the Wilderpeople.”But the
arm for Hollywood and the- makers of some franchise
ater owners who have just This image released by Marvel Studios shows the Hulk, from left, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tessa tentpoles have increas-
suffered through a terrible Thompson as Valkyrie and Tom Hiddleston as Loki in a scene from, “Thor: Ragnarok.” ingly turned to more irrev-
October at the box of- (Marvel Studios via AP) erent filmmakers to lend
fice. “Thor: Ragnarok” also demand a 65 percent cut We’re down. It’s not for the “Thor” opening also ce- their blockbusters a more
bucked the trend of dimin- of ticket sales for its upcom- faint of heart,” said Der- ments the unlikely break- comic swagger. The results
ishing returns for sequels. ing “Star Wars” film “The garabedian. “The industry through of New Zealand have been mixed. Phil Lord
The 2011 “Thor” debuted Last Jedi,” as opposed to has its work cut out for it to director Taika Waititi, who and Chris Miller departed
with $65.7 million; 2013’s the more typical 60 per- make up that nearly 5 per- shepherded the $180 mil- the stand-alone Han Solo
“Thor: The Dark World” cent. Hollis declined to dis- cent deficit as we hit the lion production to Marvel’s film after creative dis-
opened with $85.7 million. cuss the studio’s negotia- home stretch of what has best reviews since 2008’s agreements, as did original
“In this business, it’s not of- tions with theaters but said, been an incredibly volatile “Iron Man.” The movie “Ant-man” helmer Edgar
ten you see the second “We’re hopeful that our big box-office year.” The huge scored a 93 percent fresh Wright.q
and third installments in the films will help drive our mu-
franchise outpacing the tual success.”
previous issue,” said Da- The Los Angeles Times also
vid Hollis, distribution chief. said Friday that Disney
“You don’t expect nev- barred its critic from attend-
er-ending returns when it ing “Thor: Ragnarok” after
comes to sequels but it def- the paper published an
initely speaks to the quality investigative report about
of the talent at the Mar- Disneyland’s business ties
vel Studios team and the with the city of Anaheim. In
way they’re thinking about a statement Friday, Disney
each film out of the gate.” said that the two-piece re-
The weekend’s other new port showed “a complete
nationwide release, STX disregard for basic journal-
Entertainment’s “A Bad istic standards.”
Moms Christmas,” opened But the issue of revenue
with $17 million over the splitting is an acute one for
weekend and $21.6 million theater owners who are
since opening Wednes- already fighting against
day, according to studio up-and-down ticket sales
estimates Sunday. The and mounting competi-
holiday-themed sequel, tion from streaming outlets.
which returns stars Mila Ku- Disney plans to launch a
nis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn streaming service in 2019
Hahn, came in shy of the that will include some film
2016 original’s $23.8 million releases. It’s often been
opening. feast or famine this year at
But the big story was “Thor,” the box office. August was
which also grossed $151.4 historically dismal, Septem-
million in its second week of ber swung to record-break-
international release. The ing highs and October
film has, in 10 days, made again badly slumped with
$427 million worldwide. the lowest overall gross in
Disney isn’t alone in being a decade. The year is run-
able to roll out such block- ning down 4.8 percent off
busters but three of the last year’s record pace ac-
year’s five $100 million-plus cording to comScore.
releases are theirs. (Disney’s Paul Dergarabedian, se-
other two are “Beauty and nior media analyst for
the Beast” and “Guardians comScore, expects to
of the Galaxy Vol. 2”) The November will, thanks to
studio has recently, as re- “Thor,” Warner Bros.’ “Jus-
ported by The Wall Street tice League” and the Dis-
Journal earlier this week, ney-Pixar release “Coco,”
pushed new terms to the- swing back up. “It’s like a
ater owners, saying it will tennis match. We’re up.