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 The figure give the third Thor movie the 29th
highest second weekend of all time and the fifth best of 2017.
It also took in nearly the combined total of the two new titles
-- Paramount's family comedy "Daddy's Home 2," with $30 million
from 3,575 sites and Fox's mystery "Murder on the Orient
Express" with $28.2 million at 3,341 venues.
"Thor: Ragnarok," starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Taika
Waititi, declined 54% from its $122.7 million opening last
weekend and is already the ninth highest domestic grosser of
2017 with $211.6 million in its first 10 days. It's also been a
stellar international performer with $438 million in less than
three weeks -- topping $650 million worldwide.
On Nov. 8, "Thor: Ragnarok" became the 12th consecutive Marvel
Cinematic Universe film to top $500 million worldwide.
The movie has reversed a box office slump that persisted through
October and left 2017's overall domestic moviegoing down 5% from
last year at $9.14 billion as of Sunday. With Warner Bros.'
"Justice League" opening next weekend, Disney-Pixar's "Coco" on
Nov. 22 and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" launching on Dec. 15, the
industry is now poised to end the year on an upbeat note. The
overall weekend totaled about $148 million, down 6% from the
same frame in 2016, according to comScore.
"Now it will take the dream team of 'Justice League,' 'Coco' and
of course 'The Last Jedi' and a host of other films big and
small to rally the industry toward a year end total that could
rival last year's record $11.4 billion," said Paul Dergarabedian,
senior media analyst at comScore. "The clock is ticking and
there's not a lot of time left on the calendar to make up the
difference."
"Daddy's Home 2" is performing at the high end of recent
forecasts and is finishing about 23% below the original's $38.7
million opening in 2015. Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell reprise
their roles as fathers co-parenting the children of Wahlberg's
character who struggle to cope when their fathers, played by Mel
Gibson and John Lithgow, arrive during the holiday season. The
film carries a $70 million budget.
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 The original went on to gross $150 million
domestically. Paramount's distribution president Kyle Davies
pointed to an A- CinemaScore as an indication that the "Daddy's
Home 2" is resonating with all demographics -- and should
perform well in coming weeks. "We are well-positioned heading
into the holiday season with a movie for audiences from 8 to
80," he added. "Murder on the Orient Express" has also launched
above expectations. Kenneth Branagh stars as detective Hercule
Poirot in the latest adaptation of Agatha Christie's story of a
murder mystery on a luxury train in the 1930s. The cast has
plenty of star power with Johnny Depp, Josh Gad, Michelle
Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, "Hamilton's" Leslie Odom
Jr., and "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" actress Daisy Ridley.
"Murder on the Orient Express," which has a $55
million budget, also pulled in $45.8 million in 25,903 international
screens, lifting its overseas total to $57.2 million.
STXfilms' "A Bad Moms Christmas" finished fourth with $11.5 million
at 3,615 locations in its second weekend, showing impressive holding
power with a decline of only 31%. The film has grossed nearly $40
million in its first 12 days.
A24's expansion of Greta Gerwig's "Lady Bird" cracked the top 10
with $1.2 million on 37 screens for an impressive $33,776 per screen
average. The comedy-drama posted the best 2017 platform opening last
weekend with $364,437 at four sites.
Fox Searchlight's platform release of "Three Billboards Outside
Ebbing, Missouri," starring Frances McDormand and Woody Harrelson,
opened with a strong $320,000 at four locations. McDormand plays a
small town mother taking on the local police force after her
daughter's rape and murder goes uninvestigated for several months.
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