“Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth installment in the Thor franchise, impressed this weekend at the box office, earning $143 million at the U.S. box office and becoming the third best movie opening of the year. It earned a total of $302 million at the box office, including international theaters.
Coming behind “Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness,” another Marvel movie, and “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “Love and Thunder” is now among the top earning films in the first summer of large theatrical openings since the pandemic. It is also the 11th highest Marvel Cinematic Universe debut of all time.
Directed by fan-favorite director, Taika Waititi, the movie stars Chris Hemsworth reprising his beloved role as Thor in his first appearance since “Avengers: Endgame.” The movie also stars familiar faces from the franchise, including Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman, reprising her role as Thor’s ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster. The movie also featured Christian Bale, playing Gorr the God Butcher, the movie’s main villain.
While the movie had an impressive performance in the box office, its critical reception was less than stellar, earning it a 66% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a large drop compared to the last movie in the franchise, “Thor: Ragnarok,” which earned a 93%. Some of this can be attributed to the film’s constant brevity, which some credits felt undercut the film’s more serious moments.
The movie also reached some international challenges, with China still not ready to allow the film a wide-release in the country due to its’ LGBTQ+ themes. If the release continues to be held-off, Love and Thunder will be the seventh consecutive Marvel film with no Chinese release due to censorship.
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