‘Thor: Ragnarok’ strikes with $46M on Friday, heading toward $115M-$120M opening weekend

Thor: Ragnarok is electrifying the box office to the tune of $46 million on its first day in North America. The film’s Friday total, which includes $14.5 million from Thursday night showings, is better than the $41 million projections made earlier today. That means the film’s domestic opening weekend estimates are expanding as well.

Early this afternoon, it looked like Thor: Ragnarok would open with an impressive $104 million. Now those estimates have been pushed up to anywhere between $115 million and $120 million. Audiences gave the film an “A” CinemaScore tonight, suggesting that the word-of-mouth is going to be very strong, so this may only be the first time estimates are bumped up. Any total north of $100 million will be a big victory for Marvel Studios and director Taika Waititi.