As can be the case for just about anyone that’s smart enough to realize it, the box office revenue for Thor: The Dark World will not do Avengers or Iron Man 3 numbers. But it will do well since it did $110 million overseas last weekend and another $40 million during the week and the US release will get more 3D sales than usual due to the attachment of the Captain America: The Winter Soldier preview that they’ve done.

But how well did it do for its Thursday opening? Pretty good overall and definitely on track with expectations.

The film did $7.1 million from the Thursday 8PM showings (which we attended and was surprisingly female tilted for the audience, even owing to our understanding of the Loki appeal).

This compares well to what the numbers were for recent films that are more aligned with the post-Avengers world and up over the original film:

• First Thor film – $3.25 million
• Captain America: The First Avenger - $4 million
• Iron Man 3 – $15.6 million
• The Avengers - $18.7 million
• Man Of Steel - $21 million

The Man of Steel numbers are a bit inflated as there was a special promotion via Walmart that put a lot of people in the seats for it, but it is worth noting. Thor: The Dark World has more than doubled what the first film did and tracking has it going between $89 million and $95 million for its opening weekend on a budget of $170 million. The film is certainly special effects heavy and did a lot of on-location work so you can definitely see the money on the screen as well as the amount of people employed for the film overall.

The 2011 film had a budget of $150 million and did $181 million in business in North America and $268 million overseas with a total theatrical run of $449 million over the 16 weeks it was in release (May 6th through August 25th).

Plot concept: Thor: The Dark World continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s “Thor” and “Marvel’s The Avengers,” Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

[Source: Variety ]