'Thor' hammers competition at North American box office
Marvel's latest superhero installment "Thor: Love and Thunder" enjoyed a summer
blockbuster debut, hammering competition to top this weekend's North American
box office with an estimated $143 million haul, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.
"This is another excellent Marvel opening for a series that started in 2011 and has
grown with each episode," said analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research,
adding that the film nearly doubled the average take for a 4th episode superhero movie.
The comedic follow-up to 2017's "Thor: Ragnarok" stars a muscle-clad, self-
parodying Chris Hemsworth as the space viking who wields the mallet Mjolnir, but
also finds himself pining for his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman),