If Fast Five hadn't had a gangbusters launch with $86 million last weekend, Thor would have qualified as the biggest opening of 2011 so far.  Alas, it was not meant to be for the Asgardian deity played by Chris Hemsworth.  The latest entry in Marvel Studios' attempt to create an interconnected universe, culminating in next summer's superhero team-up The Avengers, did not have the advantage of a profile as high as, say, Spider-Man.  Still, it's performing respectably enough.  Among comparable Marvel movies, it's first weekend gross was less than those of Spidey and Iron Man, but greater than X-Men, The Incredible Hulk, and Fantastic Four.

Boxofficemojo puts a wrinkle in that stat-fabric, though, taking into account inflation and the 3D surcharge.  60% Thor's weekend haul came from 3D presentations, so though it made more money, its attendance was actually lower than those three films, as well as Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. 

Still, Thor is doing just fine, particularly since the film has been playing internationally for more than a week already, pulling in a $176 million total abroad.

Fast Five dropped 62.3% from last weekend, with an estimated $32.5 million.  The franchise actioner's new ten-day total of $139.8 million allowed it to pull roughly a quarter mile ahead of Rango as the highest grossing film of the year so far.  Also, it compares favorably to the previous installment's ten-day cumulative gross of $116.5 million.

The third and fourth spots are both occupied by new romantic comedies, Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed.  Though their respective estimates of $13.7 and $13.1 million are very close, Broom's debut is a bit more impressive, as Something Borrowed has had a more aggressive marketing campaign and more widely recognizable stars, like Kate Hudson and John Krasinski.  Jumping the Broom also played on fewer screens than Something Borrowed, with the former playing on 2,035 screens and the latter on 2,904.

In its fourth weekend, Rio dropped to fifth place with $8.2 million in estimated receipts, a 44% decrease from last week.  Its total stands at $114 million and counting.  In sixth place, the novel adaptation Water for Elephants had plenty of competition for its principally female audience, and was down 40%, bringing it to $41.6 million over three weekends.

Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family took a hit, falling from third place to seventh and losing more than 60% of its audience.  Still, its $3.9 million in estimated earnings adds up to a cumulative of $46.8 million.  It had a healthy enough lead over the Disney's tween ensemble Prom, which came in eight place with a projected $2.4 million.  Over ten days, Prom has brought in $7.8 million, conceivably putting the kibosh on the rumored sequel.

Soul Surfer managed to stay in the top ten after five weekends of release, coming in ninth place and getting pretty close to Prom with an estimated $2.1 million.  The film, based on a true story, has shown legs, its consistency allowing it to gross a surprisingly robust $36.6 million.  That's not Fast Five money, but it's a whole lot better than most expectations for the inexpensive film.

The second animated film on the list is the pun-tastically titled Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil, which debuted in sixth place last weekend.  A projected $1.8 million puts the Weinstein Co. release in tenth place, just ahead of Insidious.  That low-budget horror film is in eleventh place after 6 weeks, and crossed the $50 million mark this weekend.

1. Thor                                                          $66 million            New Release

2. Fast Five                                                   $32.5 million         $139.8 million

3. Jumping the Broom                                  $13.7 million         New Release

4. Something Borrowed                                $13.1 million        New Release

5. Rio                                                             $8.2 million         $114.9 million

6. Water for Elephants                                  $5.6 million         $41.6 million

7. Madea's Big Happy Family                        $3.9 million          $46.8 million

8. Prom                                                         $2.4 million          $7.8 million

9. Soul Surfer                                                $2.1 million          $36.6 million

10. Hoodwinked Too!                                    $1.8 million          $6.7 million

Next week sees two wildly different new wide releases: the Judd Apatow-produced ensemble comedy Bridesmaids and the postapocalyptic sci fi slow-motion-fest Priest.  Will Ferrell's Everything Must Go gets a limited release, as does Hesher, which sports Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman as its headliners.