EARLY FRIDAY BOX OFFICE: “Thor: Ragnarok” Thunders, “A Bad Moms Xmas” Fizzles, “LBJ” MIA

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Those waiting for Marvel to stumble will have to go on waiting.  Based on preliminary numbers at Deadline, THOR: RAGNAROK (Marvel/Disney) had a $46M opening day (including $14.5M from Thursday night), the highest for any Marvel Universe title released outside the May-July corridor.  Opening day was up 44% from the start of Thor:  The Dark World, and was also up 41% from last November’s Doctor Strange.  The weekend could be as high as $120M, and Ragnarok‘s US total should be $300+ considering the likely strong word of mouth.  The only obstacle in its path is the arrival of Justice League as direct competition in 2 weeks.  This is all on top of the $164.5M Ragnarok has already earned overseas, with its first fully worldwide weekend still to come.

Not all franchises are created equal, of course, and A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS (STX) is off to an unexciting start.  It took in $4.5M on Wed-Thurs, and another $5.5M on Friday, which should make for a $17M 3-day weekend and $21.5M over 5 days, less than the $23.8M that the first Bad Moms made in 3 days.  That film had a terrific 4.8x multiple of its opening weekend by the time it was done, but Moms Christmas is unlikely to do the same, especially with Daddy’s Home 2 aiming at the comedy audience next week.  A $65M US total might turn a profit, but the prospects of a 3rd installment are uncertain at best.

LBJ (Electric) had a quasi-wide opening at 659 theatres, but it was going to need great reviews to have any impact, and it didn’t get them.  Opening day was $350K, and the weekend per-theatre average may not top $1500.

JIGSAW (Lionsgate) inevitably collapsed post-Halloween, down 71% from last Friday to $2M for a $6M weekend and a US total that should end up around $40M, behind all the Saw titles except Saw VI.

BOO 2! A MADEA HALLOWEEN (Lionsgate) fell 53% Friday-to-Friday to $1.2M, for a $4M weekend and $50M US total, which will put it near the bottom of the Madea franchise.  HAPPY DEATH DAY (Blumhouse/Universal) dropped 45% from last Friday to $800K, heading for a $2.8M weekend and $55-60M in the US.

GEOSTORM (Skydance/RatPac/Warners) is making its money in China, but it’s almost done here, down 48% from last Friday to $800K, for a $2.8M weekend and a US total that may not reach $35M.  BLADE RUNNER 2049 (Alcon/Sony/Warners) is also running on fumes, down 45% from last Friday to $600K, heading for a $2M weekend and $90M in the US.

Last week’s non-horror openings didn’t hold well.  THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE (DreamWorks/Reliance/Universal) sank 55% to $700K, and may get to $2.5M for the weekend and a $12.5M US total.  SUBURBICON (Black Bear/Paramount) was worse, down 63% to $400K for a $1.4M weekend and a US total that won’t see $10M.

The Christian title LET THERE BE LIGHT (Atlas) nearly doubled its theatre count to 600, so although the Friday number was fairly steady at $500K, a $1.5M weekend will give it a mediocre $2500 average.

The limited opening of the weekend was awards hopeful LADY BIRD (A24), which may average $75K for the weekend at 4 NY/LA arthouses.  LAST FLAG FLYING (Amazon/Lionsgate) was far behind, with perhaps a $10K weekend average at 4.