Here's how much Thor: Love and Thunder cost to make and what it needs to earn to be a box office success. First appearing in 2011's Thor, the God of Thunder has been a staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for over a decade. In addition to two solo sequels, Thor has also been in all four Avengers movies, going through an impactful character arc and transformation over the years. He becomes the first MCU character to receive a fourth standalone film with Thor: Love and Thunder, which pits Thor against new villain Gorr the God Butcher.
Thor's previous solo adventure, 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, was a breath of fresh air for the franchise and rejuvenated the character. Helmed by Taika Waititi, Ragnarok earned widespread critical acclaim and grossed $853.9 million worldwide. With Waititi returning to direct Love and Thunder, Marvel is clearly hoping he'll be able to repeat his earlier success. The studio will need the film to be a big hit, since it likely wasn't cheap to make.
As of this writing, no reported Thor: Love and Thunder budget figure is available. Looking back at Marvel's track record, it's possible to accurately guess a ballpark estimate. Ragnarok cost $180 million. Over the course of Phase 4, solo movies like Black Widow, Shang-Chi, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness all had $200 million budgets. With that in mind, and considering Thor: Love and Thunder's scope, it's safe to assume the budget is somewhere between $180-200 million. We will update this post when more information becomes available.
What Thor: Love & Thunder's Box Office Needs To Be A Success
The general rule of thumb is a movie needs to earn double its production budget in order to break even. Going by that metric, Thor: Love and Thunder would need to gross around $400 million to recoup costs. It shouldn't have any issues hitting that mark. The MCU has long been a reliable draw at the box office, with only a couple of titles underwhelming during their theatrical run. Their impressive run continued back in May with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which earned $951.3 million globally. That showing demonstrates audiences still love coming to see the latest MCU blockbuster on the big screen, and with Thor enjoying newfound popularity after Ragnarok, there's no reason why that can't continue.
Early Thor: Love and Thunder reactions are very positive, word-of-mouth that will surely help the film during its opening weekend. At this point, an established MCU character like Thor is critic-proof, but strong reviews are a welcomed development. Additionally, Thor: Love and Thunder isn't facing much in the way of competition. Minions: The Rise of Gru broke box office records over Fourth of July weekend, but it's targeting a different demographic than Love and Thunder. Other live-action tentpoles like Jurassic World Dominion and Top Gun: Maverick shouldn't be much of a threat either since they've been out for a while, though the latter continues to have strong legs as it passed $1 billion. Even if Top Gun continues to hold well, Thor: Love and Thunder should be set up for a fruitful run over the rest of July.
