'Thor' rules box office for second straight weekend

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

Thor lorded over all newcomers this weekend, including a strong debut by Bridesmaids, to take the top spot at the box office for a second straight weekend.

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  By Zade Rosenthal, AP

  Chris Hemsworth and Thor took in $34.5 million this weekend; it opened to $66 million a week ago.

By Zade Rosenthal, AP

Chris Hemsworth and Thor took in $34.5 million this weekend; it opened to $66 million a week ago.

Thor took in $34.5 million, according to studio estimates from box-office tracking firm Hollywood.com.

The film fell just 48% from its opening weekend, a healthy hold for a film that opened to $66 million a week ago. The Kenneth Branagh comic-book adaptation has made $119.3 million in 10 days.

The encore was enough to hold off a strong debut from the comedy Bridesmaids, which opened to $24.4 million.

The debut was $4 million more than analysts projected, and the film scored positive reviews from critics, 91% of whom recommended the movie, according to the movie review site rottentomatoes.com.

Gitesh Pandya of boxofficeguru.com says the film was well-timed, because "women sick of the testosterone flicks over the past few weeks came out for something more relevant to them."

Fast Five was third with $19.5 million, which brought its three-weekend total to $168.8 million.

The comic-book adaptation Priest met expectations with $14.5 million, followed by Rio with $8 million.

Final figures are due Monday.

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