THOR: THE DARK WORLD

 

Production & Directing

Thor: The Dark World is a 2013 American superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Thor, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the second Thor film following 2011's Thor and the eighth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was directed by Alan Taylor, with a screenplay by Christopher Yost, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, and features Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins reprising their roles from the first, with newcomers Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Zachary Levi and Clive Russell joining the cast.

The Budget

Thor: The Dark World has earned $109.4 million worldwide. On its opening day, it earned $8.2 million from 33 territories, in all of which it was the #1 film, including the UK and France, where the film opened higher than its predecessor. During its first three days, the film earned $45.2 million from 36 countries and by the end of the weekend (Wednesday-Sunday), it earned $109.4 million, topping the weekend box office outside North America. It finished in first place in all 36 countries.

In July at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International, Hiddleston introduced footage from the film to audiences in character as Loki. Also in July, Gameloft announced that a mobile video game titled, Thor the Dark World: The Official Game, would be released in conjunction with the release of the film in November.

Marketing

In August 2013, Marvel released a second trailer for the film as part of YouTube's Geek Week. Forbes said, "this 150-second trailer is basically just an extended version of last April’s 106-second teaser" and that "this trailer fails to showcase what’s new this time around... making audiences question if they really don’t have much else to offer." The Los Angeles Times said, that the trailer suggests "an ominous, epic scale for the sequel" and that "the collaboration between Thor and Loki promises to be especially interesting." Later in the month, producer Kevin Fiege and cast members Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins presented additional footage at Disney's D23 Expo.

Synergy

Also in August 2013, Disney announced plans to promote the film with an attraction at Disneyland. The attraction called "Treasures of Asgard", located next to the Stark Industries exhibit inside Innoventions in Tomorrowland, opened on November 1, 2013 and features displays of Asgardian relics and transports guests to Odin's throne room, where they are greeted by Thor.

Distribution/Exhibition

Thor: The Dark World premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square in London on October 22, 2013. It was internationally released on October 30, 2013, and on November 8, 2013 in the United States.