The thunderous debut of “Thor: The Dark World” was anything but low-key.

The film, Marvel Entertainment’s sequel to the 2011 hit “Thor,” not only dethroned “Ender’s Game” after one weekend on top, but it did so by raking in an impressive $85,737,841 — almost three times more than what “Ender’s Game” made in its first weekend.

As the sequel to an already-popular film, “The Dark World” had little trouble captivating the largest audience this weekend. The movie received a 65 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes — 10 percent less than its predecessor — but word of mouth and it’s A- rating on CinemaScore should be enough for a long stint in theaters. It could also see a bump in revenue when people have breaks from work and school during the Thanksgiving holiday.

And during a season when films are pining for Oscar nods, “The Dark World” stood out as one of the few big-name blockbusters. But what really garnered the most attention for the movie was a thorough marketing campaign involving actors using their star power to promote the film. Tom Hiddleston, who returned as Thor’s villainous adopted brother Loki, for example, made several in-character appearances at venues like Comic Con, becoming one of the most popular characters in the series.

Claiming the second spot this weekend was the returning “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,” which made just more than $11 million. Its revenue has been consistently dropping, but given the comedy’s relatively low $15 million budget, which it surpassed during its debut, everything at this point is added to the crew’s profits.

Lastly, bumping up into third place was Relativity Media’s “Free Birds.” Making $11,112,063 last week, the film has grossed more than $30 million dollars, but that falls well-short of its $55 million budget. But given its timely Thanksgiving theme, the animated film should hold out through the holiday.

Aside from the “The Dark World,” new releases failed to break the top 25 films last weekend. This isn’t surprising considering their indie statuses and limited releases, but movies like “The Book Thief,” “Great Expectations” and the documentary “The Armstrong Lie” also struggled because of minimal advertising targeted at the key demographics.

A few films, though, experienced nationwide debuts after limited releases.

In seventh place was director Steve McQueen’s “12 Years A Slave,” earning $6.7 million. Expanding its reach to 1,444 theaters last weekend from its limited 19-theater opening, the drama has grossed $17.4 million to date.

And “About Time,” a romantic comedy featuring Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Gleeson, took ninth place, besting its $1 million limited debut with about $4.7 million this time around. Even though the film’s time travel element might have drawn in a few extra viewers, the rom-com genre seems to be exhausted, and the increased revenue just comes from it expanding into 1,200 theaters.

Published on November 13, 2013 at 12:22 am

Contact Joe: jtinfant@syr.edu | @joeinfantino