Marvel’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” managed to fend off three new nationwide releases to remain the No. 1 movie in North America.

Though ticket sales for “Thor” cratered in its second weekend, falling by 68% to $46 million from 4,375 theaters, the latest installment in Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe easily towered over a trio of newcomers: Sony’s literary adaptation “Where the Crawdads Sing,” Paramount’s animated “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank” and the Focus Features period drama “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.” After 10 days on the big screen, “Love and Thunder” has generated a sizable $232 million at the domestic box office and $497.9 million globally.

For “Thor,” the fourth superhero adventure to spotlight Chris Hemsworth as the Asgardian god with abs that won’t quit, a concerning 68% decline is signaling the movie is not breaking out beyond the comic book empire’s (albeit very big) fanbase. Though “Love and Thunder” will certainly end its box office run with a tidy sum, it’s not ideal for a film of its size and scope to lose such a significant fraction of its audience so quickly after opening weekend. It’s one of the biggest second-weekend drops in MCU history next to May’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” which tumbled 67% in its sophomore outing. (Disney’s “Strange” sequel film still earned a mighty $411 million domestically). By comparison, recent Marvel entries were able to fare better with “Eternals” dipping 61% and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” falling 52%...Reuters