The Marvel Cinematic Universe looks to have its third $100 million opener in 2017 with the arrival of Thor: Ragnarok [THOR3]. Chris Hemsworth [CHEMS] reprises his role as the Norse God of Thunder while Tom Hiddleston [THIDD] returns as Loki. They team up with The Avengers' Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo [MURFF], and newcomer Valkyrie, played by Tessa Thompson [TTHOM], to take on the villainess Hela, played by Cate Blanchett [CBLAN]. The PG-13 rated sequel is more comedic than its predecessors Thor and Thor: The Dark World, which opened to $65.7 million and $85.7 million respectively. As directed by Taika Waititi [TAWAI], Thor: Ragnarok has earned the highest RottenTomatoes score in MCU history. Earlier this year, Guardians of the Galaxy Vo. II debuted with $146.5 million, while Spider-Man: Homecoming opened at $117.0 million. Advance ticket sales for Thor: Ragnarok are pacing ahead of Spider-man: Homecoming, though there could be more fanboy frontloading. Fighting in 4080 theaters, Thor: Ragnarok could knock out $115 million.
STX counterprograms the comic superheroes with A Bad Moms Christmas [BADM2] targeted at women. The R-rated comedy sequel was quickly produced after the blockbuster success of Bad Moms, which opened to $23.8 million last July and legged out $113.3 million. Unfortunately, the quality suffered as indicated by the negative reviews. It may also be too early for a holiday movie as A Bad Moms Christmas grossed just $2.5 million opening on the day after Halloween. A Bad Moms Christmas could unwrap $17 million over the weekend from 3615 theaters.
As a horror sequel, Jigsaw [SAW8] is likely to unravel more than 60% in its second weekend to $6.5 million.
LBJ [LBJ] stars Woody Harrelson [WHARR] as the 36th President. Little known Electric Entertainment is distributing the R-rated biopic in 659 theaters. With reviews mixed, LBJ may capture $1.5 million from senior moviegoers.
That’s the whisper on the virtual trading floor.
Tag(s): THOR3, CHEMS, THIDD, TTHOM, CBLAN, TAWAI, BADM2, SAW8, LBJ, WHARR