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THOR Hammers Out Victory
Fast Five continues international success story. By
Jarrod Sarafin
May 08, 2011
Chris Hemsworth's THOR takes down win in U.S. debut
© Paramount Pictures/Marvel Studios
As reported last weekend the global release of Universal’s Fast Five and Paramount’s Thor have continued bouncing off each other on two box office fronts, kicking off the summer season in the right direction for Hollywood executives. One is far-exceeding expectations on the international side while the other launched into 1st place here in the U.S. market slightly above predictions from within the Marvel Studio offices.
Let’s look at Thor first.
While taking down an impressive $176 million of foreign box office receipts from its first 11 days of international release, Paramount Pictures and Marvel’s new superhero feature hammered down a $66 million debut here in the U.S. over the Mother’s Day weekend. Showing on 3,955 theaters across the nation, the first frame’s numbers has it averaging $16,688 per venue and comes in ahead of the $55 million prediction that insiders had expected from it.
A $66 million debut doesn’t sound all that impressive to some within the comic fandom but the studios are quite happy with the results knowing that the character wasn’t as well-known as such heavy titles like Batman and Superman as well as Marvel favorites like Spider-Man and Iron Man. Both of the latter releases had higher openings with $114.8 million and $98.6 million when they helped kick off summer line-ups in 2002 and 2008, respectively. Thor’s $66 million opener has it as the 3rd all-time launch for a Marvel character, ahead of Fantastic Four ($56.0), The Incredible Hulk ($55.4 mil) and X-Men ($54.4 mil).
Older fanboys have helped the global launch, with 72% of its audience being over the age of 25, while 63% were males. For their part, Paramount Pictures seems quite happy with the results of its first weekend.
“When you look at the Marvel brand, to be at this level of success on a global level is certainly a great story,” Paramount vice chair Rob Moore said. “It was also a great move on Marvel’s part to go with Kenneth Branaghand Chris Hemsworth.”
Dan Harris, Paramount’s Vice President of Distribution, echoed the praise by saying "Chris Hemsworth looks like he's going to be a movie star. Kenneth Branagh made a very smart movie, and the idea that the man who's most closely identified with Shakespeare is making a Marvel superhero movie, I always thought was pretty interesting. Audiences connected with the Natalie Portman relationship, between her character and Thor. The movie looks spectacular on the screen. It was fun, and it's a big, epic movie."
If we include the $176 million the film has earned from its first 11 days overseas, Thor has a global gross of $242.0 million.
We now come to last weekend’s champion, Fast Five. Not only did Universal’s fifth installment rake in an amazing $86 million in its U.S. launch last weekend, it also broke Universal’s international box office record this weekend by winning the foreign race with another $86.6 million from 6,979 in 58 overseas territories.
On the U.S front, the sequel starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and Dwayne Johnson found another $32.5 million on its 3,662 theaters, increasing its domestic cume to $139.8 million after only 10 days of release. The film’s second frame has helped it become the highest-grossing release of 2011, ahead of previous champion Rango ($120.4 mil). As you’ll see in our early summer box office ladder down below, the amazing overseas numbers combined with domestic tally has Fast Five leading the list with a global gross of $324.6 million. Not bad at all for a film which cost $125 million to produce.
TriStar Pictures and Sony Screen Gems basically doubled their money after just three days of release from Jumping the Broom. Looking to take a bite out of the box office for those not seeking comic superheroes or car chases, the film found an estimated $13.7 million at 2,035 locations across the nation. It’s yet another example on how Screen Gems is a very intelligent studio, showing off their prowess at keeping budgets low and profits high. The budget for the film is only $6.6 million.
Next up is Warner Bros. Pictures’ debut of their romantic comedy, Something Borrowed. The film starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson and John Krasinski launched into 4th place by earning $13.1 million in estimated ticket sales. Based on the book by Emily Giffin, the adaptation averaged $4,530 per showing on its 2,904 venues and put it in decent shape to eventually reach its $35 million price tag.
And the 5th place spot goes to the returning animated adventure Rio. 20th Century Fox’s tale found another $8.2 million in its fourth frame, increasing its domestic score to $114.9 million and putting it well ahead of the $90 million budget the producers shelled out. The film has also racked in a nice $292.3 million overseas to put its worldwide tally at $407.2 million. It’s the top worldwide earner for 2011 at the moment but it shouldn’t be long before a summer release takes the top mantle.
| Rank | Movie | Weekend | Theaters | Average | Total | Budget |
| 1 | Thor | $66.0 mil | 3,955 | $16,688 | $66.0 mil | $150 |
| 2 | Fast Five | $32.5 mil | 3,662 | $8,880 | $139.8 mil | $125 |
| 3 | Jumping the Broom | $13.7 mil | 2,035 | $6,732 | $13.7 mil | $6.6 |
| 4 | Something Borrowed | $13.1 mil | 2,904 | $4,530 | $13.1 mil | $35 |
| 5 | Rio | $8.2 mil | 3,258 | $2,517 | $114.9 mil | $90 |
| 6 | Water for Elephants | $5.6 mil | 2,614 | $2,142 | $41.6 mil | $38 |
| 7 | Madea’s Big Happy Family | $3.9 mil | 1,881 | $2,073 | $46.8 mil | ---- |
| 8 | Prom | $2.4 mil | 2,730 | $888 | $7.8 mil | $8 |
| 9 | Soul Surfer | $2.1 mil | 1,781 | $1,179 | $36.6 mil | $18 |
| 10 | Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil | $1.8 mil | 2,505 | $750 | $6.7 mil | $30 |
And here’s the global summer numbers as they count now. Rio was technically a pre-summer release so it didn’t quite make the list even if it would be on the top spot right now.
Fast Five Numbers:
Budget: $125 mil
Opening: $86.1 mil
Domestic: $139.8 mil
Foreign: $184.8 mil
Worldwide: $324.6 mil
Thor Numbers:
Budget: $150 mil
Opening: $66.0 mil
Domestic: $66.0 mil
Foreign: $176.0 mil
Worldwide: $242.0 mil
Friday, May 13, 2011 Releases:
Wide
Priest 3D (2,800+)
Bridesmaids (2,700)
Limited
Everything Must Go
Hersher
Go For It
The First Grader
How to Live Forever
Skateland
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First comment. Nice. May I use it to laugh heartily at the Lakers of Los Angeles who have been goosed by the Mavericks. There's no 'go' in team, but there is an 'e' in ego.
As for Thor, I've already stated in the movie review thread that it just felt.....ordinary. Nothing super exciting, nothing that was a game changer. The direction, cast, look, the whole film was spot on, and is by all means a success, but it just felt so regular.
If you notice a lot of the reviews on RT, from the certified critics, they all have the same consensus-Thor showed up as a long extended preview for the Avengers and the film was nothing wave breaking.
I think the problem with Thor is there's nothing wrong with it. It does everything right, but it doesn't knock anything out of the park. I was the biggest (and still am) champion of Kenneth Brannagh, and he did a spectacular job considering it's his first summer big-budget film ever.
I went and saw it on a Thursday midnight showing. There was more interest from the crowd in the previews, as the film just didn't seem to do anything to wow anyone. We all laughed at the funny parts, ooooh'd at the hammer flying through the frost giant rancor, and that was it.
As Thor only made 66 million this weekend, I don't see it moving past 150, maybe even 140. It won't have the legs to compete, as Priest (horrible as that looks) will pull away from it, so will Fast Five next weekend, but then Pirates 4 is hear, and Thor will be a distant memory.
Oh well. Bring on X-Men: First Class (the one I'm looking forward to most behind Cap'n)