But while Thor made a big splash with a $65 million domestic box office on its opening weekend, it also had a 25-percent lower production budget at $150 million. And Green Lantern, even with a much more well-known star in the lead role, couldn’t even match Thor’s opening weekend.

Green Lantern managed to draw $53.1 million last weekend, about 19 percent below Thor’s opening. While Lantern could prove to have some legs, it is hampered in that it lacks the strong foreign box office performance of Thor. Thor received nearly 60 percent of its total box office take from overseas markets, whereas Green Lantern so far has only 18 percent of its worldwide box office coming from foreign markets.

So it’ll be interesting to see if Green Lantern can overcome the odds and do okay in the end, or if the Norse god of thunder will prove mightier than a guy with a glowy green ring.

The Steven Spielberg-J.J. Abrams thriller Super 8 dropped to second place with $21.4 million, outperforming the Jim Carrey kids flick, Mister Popper’s Penguins, which was good for third place with $18.4 million against a $55 million budget… a good take for a movie at that budget. That’ll take care of Carrey’s bath salts budget after all that time around penguins.

X-Men First Class added nearly $12 million last weekend, bringing their domestic take to $126 million and the global take to $290 million for the mutant comic book movie relaunch. The $160 million budget helped make the movie easier to make money with, for such an effects-laden movie.

The Hangover, Part II slipped to fifth place, taking in just over $10 million, which brings the movie to $233 million domestically and an amazing $494 million worldwide.

And for those who thought Pirates 4: On Stranger Tides was a loser? Only in the US. Globally, the movie has drawn $967 million to date, with nearly 77 percent of its box office coming from foreign markets. Most expect the movie to top $1 billion worldwide before it’s played out, which makes its hefty $250 million budget slightly easier to stomach.

It was announced this week that Reynolds beat out Justin Timberlake and Bradley Cooper, among others, to land the lead in Warner Brothers’ upcoming GREEN LANTERN, to be written/produced/directed by Greg Berlanti, Mark Guggenheim and Michael Green. Martin Campbell will handle the behind-the-camera duties and shooting starts in January in Australia.

Did Reynolds oust himself from the Deadpool movie with this move? Or is the Green Lantern role a step up? It’s an interesting move, to be sure, and one that ensures Reynolds will have a premiere hero role in his future.