Superhero movie “Thor: Love and Thunder,” one of the year’s most anticipated films, earned an impressive opening weekend in North American theaters, dethroning “Minions: The Rise of Gru” from the top spot, according to estimates by specialist firm Exhibitor Relations, AFP reports.

Thor Love and Thunder hits the American box officePhoto: Barry King / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia

The hammer-wielding Norse superhero, this time fighting an intergalactic assassin, is played by Chris Hemsworth, who is joined in the cast by stars such as Natalie Portman and Christian Bale, writes Agerpres.

The film, directed by New Zealander Taika Waititi, has collected $143 million in US and Canadian theaters since its release on Friday, an impressive amount compared to the previous installment of the franchise.

It’s a “great” start for Marvel, and this fourth installment in the saga is doing much better than other superhero movies at the same stage, according to David Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.

Top 10 North American rental:

  • 1. Thor: Love and Thunder ($143 million)
  • 2. Minions: The Rise of Gru ($45.5 million)
  • 3. Top Gun: Maverick ($15.5 million)
  • 4. Elvis ($11 million)
  • 5. Jurassic World Dominion ($8.4 million)
  • 6. Black phone ($7.6 million)
  • 7. Lightyear ($2.9 million)
  • 8. Shell Marcel in shoes ($340,000)
  • 9. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($262,000)
  • 10 – Mr. Malcolm’s List ($245,000)

The film went far beyond that Minions: The Rise of Gruwhich premiered last week and earned $45.5 million this weekend for a total of $210 million since its release.

Blockbuster is in third place Top Gun: Maverick continues to perform well in its seventh week in theaters, earning an estimated $15.5 million as of Friday.

Since the release of this sequel a Top Gunmade 36 years after the original film, grossed $597 million.

In its third week, the baroque and extravagant Elvis biopic about the King of Rock and Roll dropped to fourth place with $11 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.

In fifth place is the sixth episode of the famous series of dinosaur films “Jurassic World Dominion” with a profit of 8.4 million dollars.