Thor: Love And Thunder Scores $29 Million In Thursday Previews, Heading For $150 Million Opening

It simply wouldn't feel like summer without a Marvel movie making a whole bunch of money at the box office. As luck would have it, "Thor: Love and Thunder" has arrived to do exactly that. Director Taika Waititi returns to the MCU following his work on "Thor: Ragnarok," and his latest comic book movie effort is already off to a great start. If the Thursday preview numbers are any indication, the God of Thunder is about to have one of the best opening weekends since the pandemic began.

As reported by Forbes, "Love and Thunder" racked up a godly $29 million in Thursday preview screenings. That sets the film up for an opening weekend total in the neighborhood of $150 million or so. Granted, it all depends on how front-loaded the weekend is and how far word of mouth gets it through Monday morning. For what it's worth, the film currently sits at a 68% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn't all that great for an MCU movie, but it also has an 85% audience score. So it appears to be in the "good but not great" camp, if we trust the general consensus.

Earlier this year, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" posted the best opening weekend of the year with $187 million, which all started with $36 million in preview grosses. If "Thor" is less front-loaded and runs a little closer to "Black Widow," which opened to $80 million against $13 million in previews, the film could debut as high as $175 million come Monday, but that's a best-case-scenario. Either way, this is going to be another win for the MCU, somewhat tepid reviews be damned.

In terms of direct comparisons, "Thor: Ragnarok" opened to $122 million back in 2017 on its way to $850 million worldwide. If "Love and Thunder" could match that, it would be an absolute win. Given that the sequel is on track to do a whole lot better on its opening weekend, a finish on the same level globally should be in the cards. As far as MCU opening weekends go, it will probably be somewhere in between "Captain Marvel" ($153 million) and "Iron Man 3" ($174 million).

Also of note, if we count the early overseas grosses, the solo "Thor" franchise has now crossed the $2 billion mark worldwide, making for a major milestone for the superhero. Plus, Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder is the only MCU hero to have four solo films under his belt (so far).

The Marvel sequel also stars Natalie Portman as Jane Foster/Mighty Thor, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Russell Crowe as Zeus, and Christian Bale as Gorr the God Butcher. Plus, the Guardians of the Galaxy are all along for the ride as well.

"Thor: Love and Thunder" is in theaters now.