Boosted by international market growth and new fans brought in by recent films, 'Thor: The Dark World' hammered the competition at the box office this weekend. The second film in the God of Thunder franchise from Walt Disney Co. DIS +2.13% 's Marvel Studios grossed an estimated $86.1 million in North America, opening domestically after an international rollout that has brought its world-wide total to $327 million.
受国际市场增长和此前同系列电影所带来的新影迷提振，《雷神2：黑暗世界》(Thor: The Dark World)在北美周末票房排行榜上拔得头筹。作为华特-迪士尼公司(Walt Disney Co.)旗下Marvel Studios所打造《雷神》系列电影的第二部，该片周末北美票房收入估计达到8,610万美元，加上此前在国际市场上的票房收入，该片全球票房总计达到了3.27亿美元。
While the movie's domestic gross was impressive-and an improvement of more than $20 million on the original 'Thor' opening in May 2011-it was the international haul that seemed mythic. In 12 days, the movie's overseas gross has collected about 90% of the original 'Thor' international gross of $268 million.
虽然该片在北美的票房表现十分抢眼，票房收入远超2011年5月份上映的第一部《雷神》(Thor)电影，但真正让人感到不可思议的是其在国际市场上的表现。在国际市场上映的12天时间里，该片海外票房收入已经相当于第一部《雷神》所创下2.68亿美元国际票房收入的90%。
Franchise sequels typically perform better than the original movie, in part because new audiences can discover the film in the years between releases. In Marvel's case, sequels like 'Thor: The Dark World' benefit from cross-promotion that comes with having the Thor character in hits like 'The Avengers,' which brought together multiple Marvel superheroes and grossed $1.5 billion world-wide last year.
在同系列电影中，续集的表现通常好于第一部。其中部分原因在于，续集上映时，有更多观众已经从第一部电影中了解了该系列影片。而从Marvel来看，该公司此前上映的《复仇者联盟》(The Avengers)等热门影片让公司旗下其他电影里的超级英雄汇聚一堂，其中也包括了雷神这个角色。像《雷神2：黑暗世界》这样的续集影片也因此受到了上述交叉推广做法的提振。去年上映的《复仇者联盟》全球票房收入达到15亿美元。
The improvement in overseas figures also comes from staggering growth in some key international markets. In China, where thousands of new screens are added each year in response to seemingly insatiable consumer demand, the $19.6 million opening weekend gross of the Thor sequel exceeded the gross for the entire Chinese theatrical run of the original.
在海外市场票房收入增加的背后，一些关键国际市场的表现十分突出。在中国，为了满足似乎看不到尽头的消费者需求，每年都会新增数千块电影银幕。《雷神2：黑暗世界》在中国的开画票房达到1,960万美元，超过了第一部《雷神》在中国的票房总收入。
'The international landscape is growing at an extraordinary clip,' said Dave Hollis, Disney's executive vice president in charge of distribution.
迪士尼负责发行的执行副总裁霍利斯(Dave Hollis)说，国际市场的增长令人瞩目。
Domestically, 'Thor: The Dark World' became the first Marvel release to perform better on Saturday than on Friday, Mr. Hollis said. Weekend releases of Superhero movies are typically frontloaded by super fans who want to see the movie on its first day of release or at a late Thursday evening screening. The improvement in Saturday ticket sales signals an uptick in interest for the movie from families, who made up about 21% of the opening weekend audience, Mr. Hollis said.
在北美市场，《雷神2：黑暗世界》成为Marvel首部周六票房好于周五的电影。周末上映的超级英雄电影通常都会有大量超级影迷争相在周五上映首日观影，或看周四夜间的首场。霍利斯说，周六票房收入更高显示出家庭观影兴趣提高，在上映首个周末，这部分观众占到大约21%。
'The brand has done well to redefine itself as available to everyone,' he said.
他说，Marvel努力重新把自己定义为适合所有人观看的电影品牌，在这方面该公司取得了成效。
IMAX screens generated $5.3 million in ticket sales for the movie, which was scheduled to be shown on the large-format screens last Monday so it could split the schedule with the underperforming 'Ender's Game' from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.'s Summit Entertainment unit.
IMAX大银幕为该电影带来了530万美元的票房收入。该片IMAX版原定上周一首映，这是因为《安德的游戏》(Ender's Game)票房不佳，《雷神2》上映能够分走一部分上映档期。《安德的游戏》是Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.旗下Summit Entertainment出品的影片。
The performance caps a busy week for Marvel. On Thursday, Disney and Netflix Inc. announced the streaming service had ordered four 13-episode live-action superhero series featuring the Marvel characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage.
《雷神2：黑暗世界》良好的表现为Marvel忙碌的一周画上了句号。上周四，迪士尼和Netflix Inc.宣布，后者已经订购了四部13集的真人超级英雄系列影片。这些影片的主角是Marvel旗下的漫画人物超胆侠(Daredevil)、杰茜卡?琼斯(Jessica Jones)、铁拳侠(Iron Fist)和卢克?凯奇(Luke Cage)。
Despite the arrival of 'Thor,' several holdovers held their own in their second or third weeks of release. 'Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa' held on to second place in its third week, grossing $11.3 million for a cumulative $78.7 million for Viacom Inc. 's Paramount Pictures. 'Free Birds,' an animated comedy from Relativity Media LLC, dropped just 29% to $11.2 million for a total $30.2 million. And 'Last Vegas,' a comedy from CBS Corp.'s CBS Films about a quartet of seniors who hit Las Vegas for a bachelor party, fell only 32% in its second week, grossing $11.1 million for a cumulative $33.5 million.
尽管面对《雷神2：黑暗世界》首映，但几部此前上映的影片在其上映第二或第三周的表现依然不俗。《蠢蛋搞怪秀4：坏祖父》(Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa)上映第三周继续保持票房榜排名第二的位置。这部由维亚康姆(Viacom Inc. )旗下派拉蒙影业(Paramount Pictures)发行的电影上周末票房收入1,130万美元，累计票房收入7,870万美元。Relativity Media LLC的动画喜剧《火鸡》(Free Birds)票房仅减少了29%，至1,120万美元，累计票房收入3,020万美元。哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS Corp.)旗下CBS Films的喜剧电影《最后的维加斯》(Last Vegas)上映第二周票房仅下降32%，至1,110万美元，累计票房收入3,350万美元。该片讲述了四个上了年纪的人到拉斯维加斯参加一个单身派对的故事。