Despite slipping to the No.2 spot in the UK box-office rankings this week Thor: Ragnarok is still on course to be one of the biggest-grossing films of 2017.

The light-hearted superhero action caper directed by Jewish-Maori New Zealander Taika Waititi breaks the ’threequel’ curse, which generally dictates that the third film in a series is the weakest performer, tracking significantly ahead of its two predecessors in the Thor series at this point.

Earning $121 million in the US from its first weekend Thor: Ragnarok enjoyed the seventh largest opening ever for a film in the overarching Marvel Universe franchise, beaten only by The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Iron Man 3, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Iron Man 2.

The film’s strong second weekend points to it overtaking at least two of those films before the year is out.

Waititi, who has also appeared under the name Taika Cohen, not only directs the film but appears as a scene-stealing minor character; indefatigably upbeat space gladiator Korg. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his 2004 short film Two Cars, One Night and was part of a comedy duo with Flight of the Conchords star Jermaine Clement. The two reunited for critically-acclaimed horror spoof What We Do In The Shadows.