'Thor: Ragnarok' Eyes $12M+ Thursday Night Debut

Thor: Ragnarok is certainly shaping up to be a mighty force at the box office, and the Thursday night preview showings are have already hauled in a pretty hefty take.

According to Deadline, the latest Marvel outing is estimated to have earned between $12 and $14 million on Thursday night, which would top several other popular comic book adaptations.

The second Thor film, The Dark World, debuted to a weak Thursday night when it was released in 2014. The sequel earned just $7.1 million in the previews. Ragnarok is on pace to potentially double that number.

Ragnarok will also likely surpass three of the most celebrated films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Thursday box office numbers. It's set to beat Doctor Strange ($9.4M), Guardians of the Galaxy ($11.2M) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($10.2M).

If Ragnarok is to open closer to $14M than $12M, it will also beat Deadpool, which hauled in $12.7 million at its Thursday opener.

With these strong numbers on opening night, Thor: Ragnarok is on pace to earn $40M or more on Friday, and between $100M-$120M over the course of the weekend.