New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Matthew Huntley: I'm impressed by this result mainly because the trailers for Thor made it seem so sub-standard, or maybe standard at best. Clearly, the critical and audience reception has proven otherwise. Marvel will be happy for sure because the window for Thor, not only for future sequels but also the excitement for his participation in The Avengers, has been opened and people are generally pleased. I think word-of-mouth will be strong with this one, and although it has direct competition with Priest next weekend, I think it will be able to stay on top for one more weekend before Pirates 4 hits. I agree that $160 million + will be enough to consider this a hit, and I, for one, am glad, because it was actually a good movie! I guess that's why you can never judge a movie by its trailer.

Reagen Sulewski: I think there's a few different ways to look at this. As a film that's supposed to be opening up the summer movie season (be quiet, Vin Diesel), this is a poor result. As a film that's basically a lead-in for The Avengers, it's a not bad result. But as a film about a comic book hero named Thor, that 90% of the general public probably wasn't even aware had a long-running comic book about him, and whose catch phrase is "I say thee nay!", this is a really good result. Paramount has spun, if not gold, at least silver out of straw here.

Edwin Davies: As everyone else has said, this result means different things depending on what you want to take away from it. As a film that is meant to kick-start the summer, or in comparison to some of the other Marvel properties, it's not astonishing, but when you consider the relative obscurity of the character and how ridiculous he might seem to people new to the property - and we're talking in relation to a guy who flies around in a robot suit and another guy who changes color when someone cuts in front of him, so the level of ridiculousness if pretty high already - then it's a pretty stellar result. As much as I enjoyed the film, I can't see Thor having anywhere near the legs that it would need to get near the first Iron Man, but as part of the prelude to The Avengers, and as a start to a Thor franchise, this a very good result.

Nerd season begins!

Kim Hollis: What do you think the opening weekend of Thor means for Green Lantern, Captain America: The First Avenger and the 2012 film The Avengers?

David Mumpower: I am a strong believer in the idea that positive reinforcement is a huge factor in box office behavior. When audiences go see a movie they enjoy, they will be encouraged to watch other similar titles. This is good news for Green Lantern, a movie whose trailers make me cringe. As much as I like Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively as actors, that title needs all the help it can get. Whether consumers distinguish between DC and Marvel comics properties remains to be seen, but I could see Green Lantern getting a slight boost from this. Meanwhile, Captain America is the next major comic book release from Marvel. With Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk and Thor all being (generally) well received, Captain America appears poised to match if not exceed Thor. It's the most approachable story after all due to the World War II setting as opposed to...Asgard.

Continued:       1       2       3