Thor hammers Bridesmaids at box office
LOS ANGELES, USA (AP) — Thor nailed down the Number One spot at the box office again.
Paramount’s 3-D superhero film starring Australian Chris Hemsworth as Marvel’s hammer-toting god of thunder earned US$34.5 million in its second weekend, according to studio estimates yesterday.
That brings the total haul of Thor to US$119.2 million, though not quite as impressive as fellow comic book hero Iron Man 2, which earned US$211.2 million by its second weekend the same time last year.
“Thor had a really great playing field to work on for its second weekend in theatres,” said Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com. “For a big-budget Marvel Comics film that opened very solidly to drop only 48 per cent indicates some very strong word-of-mouth. I think Kenneth Branagh being the director really brought a lot to the table.”
Universal’s Bridesmaids, the raunchy comedy starring Kristen Wiig as a down-on-her-luck maid of honour, debuted above expectations in second place with US$24.4 million. Nikki Rocco, head of distribution for Universal, attributed the movie’s good reviews and word-of-mouth to wide audience appeal: 67 per cent of the audience was female; 33 per cent male.
“That’s pretty good considering this is a picture titled Bridesmaids,” said Rocco.
The next adversary for Thor arrives next week with the opening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth film in the blockbuster Disney franchise starring Johnny Depp as mischievous pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. On Memorial Day weekend at the end of May come the sequels The Hangover Part II from Warner Bros and Kung Fu Panda 2 from Paramount.
“The cavalry is about to arrive,” said Dergarabedian. “We’re poised for a strong Memorial Day weekend. We’re down year-to-date about 13 per cent on revenue. A month ago, we were down 20 per cent. We’re making up ground, and this weekend was down only three per cent, which is impressive considering the strength of Iron Man 2 in its second weekend a year ago.”
Universal’s car-racing sequel Fast Five with Dwayne Johnson shifted into the third position with US$19.5 million in its third weekend in theatres.
Sony’s 3-D vampire-hunting graphic novel adaptation Priest opened in fourth place with US$14.5 million, while Fox’s animated bird tale Rio landed at fifth place with US$8 million in its fifth weekend in theatres.
