LOS ANGELES: Dr Strange and his questionably effective book of spells has summoned a blockbuster US$185 million (RM810 million) at cinemas in the United States over the weekend, reaffirming the box office dominance of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe after a shakier, pandemic-battered year for the franchise.
The timeline-bending “Dr Strange: Multiverse of Madness” represents a return to form for Disney’s MCU after Covid-era releases “Black Widow” (US$80 million debut, plus US$60 million on Disney+), “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” (US$75 million debut), and “Eternals” (US$71 million debut).
Those box office returns mark the 11th biggest opening weekend in history. Given the anomaly of reaching those box office heights, “Dr Strange” easily delivered the biggest opening weekend of the year, as well as the second-biggest debut in pandemic times.
Prior to this weekend, “The Batman” stood as the year’s biggest opening weekend with US$134 million. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” still ranks as the pandemic’s biggest opening weekend, and the second-biggest ever, with US$260 million.
Overseas, the film earned US$265 million from 49 territories, taking the global total to US$450 million. Since “Dr Strange” is not likely to play in China, Russia or Ukraine, the film will rely on repeat viewings from audiences around the globe to push ticket sales past the coveted US$1 billion mark.
Only “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has been able to cross that threshold since Covid took hold.
The Sam Raimi-helmed film kicks off the summer blockbuster season with a bang. In the coming months, “Top Gun: Maverick” (May 27), “Jurassic World Dominion” (June 10), and “Thor: Love and Thunder” (July 8) should keep cinemas bustling with foot traffic.
After two weeks at the No. 1 spot, Universal’s animated heist comedy “The Bad Guys” dropped to second place with US$9.7 million from 3,839 venues. Those returns bring the movie’s domestic tally to US$57 million.
Paramount’s family-friendly “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” took third place with US$6.2 million from 3,358 North American theatres. After five weeks on the big screen, the “Sonic” follow-up has grossed US$169.9 million at the domestic box office.
It’s one of the rare pandemic-era sequels to earn more than its predecessor in cinemas. Sonic’s first silver-screen adventure took in US$148 million in the US before Covid-19 forced multiplexes to close in March 2020.
“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” dropped to the No. 4 spot with US$3.8 million from 3,051 screens. The latest chapter in the “Harry Potter” prequel series ranks as the lowest-grossing of the larger Wizarding World film franchise.
“Dumble-snore” has generated US$86 million to date and may struggle to cross US$100 million domestically, a benchmark that prior “Harry Potter”-adjacent movies passed in a matter of days.
A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” beat Focus Features’ “The Northman” for fifth place, as the former brought in US$3.3 million from 1,542 cinemas and the latter US$2.7 million from 2,413 venues.
This weekend’s turnout continues a strong box office run for “Everything Everywhere” despite playing in far fewer cinemas than “The Northman.” Since opening seven weeks ago, the genre-defying movie starring Michelle Yeoh has grossed an impressive US$41 million in North America.
“The Northman” has earned US$28 million to date.
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