Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbusters always tend to be front-loaded before tapering off at the box office in the wake of a massive opening weekend, but that doesn’t make it any less alarming to see Thor: Love and Thunder taking one of the franchise’s biggest tumbles.
After posting a stellar $143 million debut, Chris Hemsworth’s fourth solo adventure is set to comfortably retain its crown, but there’s a catch. The most recent estimates have Love and Thunder comfortably securing the top spot once again with a tally somewhere in the $46 million range, but it’s the percentages that cause concern.
That would see Taika Waititi’s return to the director’s chair dropping by 68 percent, which would be among the worst ever for an MCU installment. That’s the same as Black Widow and Spider-Man: No Way Home, but those two titles had Disney Plus Premier Access and Christmas to use as an excuse.
The closest direct comparison is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, then, which fell by 67 percent back in May, and it’s curious to note that both of the most recent chapters in the superhero series scored identical B+ CinemaScores, which puts them second-bottom of the pack ahead of only Eternals.
Make no mistake, though, Thor: Love and Thunder will summon a mighty amount of cash by the time it exits theaters, but maybe not anywhere as much as was being predicted as recently as a couple of weeks ago, and there are no guarantees at this stage it’ll even come close to the $950+ million of its immediate predecessor Doctor Strange 2.