Disney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder,” the fourth standalone Thor Marvel movie, won the weekend box office with $143 million in its opening weekend.  “Thor 4” had a bigger opening weekend than 2017’s “Thor: Ragnarok,” which opened to $123 million in North America. “Love and Thunder” also had the third-biggest opening weekend of the year behind “Jurassic World Dominion” ($145 million) and “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” ($185 million). At the international box office, “Love and Thunder” opened ahead of expectations with $159 million from 47 markets, with $302 million in earnings globally.

“Thor: Ragnarok” filmmaker Taika Waititi returned to direct “Love and Thunder,” which follows Chris Hemsworth’s Thor as he teams up with his former beau Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who now wields her own hammer as the Mighty Thor.

Universal and Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru” took 2nd place with $45.5 million in earnings, falling 57% from its opening weekend. At No. 3 was Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick”, brining in $15.5 million in its seventh weekend of release.  Director Baz Luhrmann’s musical biopic “Elvis” landed in fourth place with $11 million, and Universal’s “Jurassic World Dominion” took the fifth slot, earning $8.4 million in its fifth weekend on the big screen.

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