The film with Benedict Cumberbatch, directed by Sam Raimi, has no major competition in cinemas. The only premiere with which he shares the screens is Firestarter, with Zac Efron, a remake of Stephen King’s novel signed by Universal Studios, which still failed to attract enough positive reviews, writes Variety. The film grossed $375,000 at Thursday’s screenings and is also available for streaming on Peacock.
The latest production from the Marvel Cinematic Universe grossed $19.2 million globally on Thursday, including $7.7 million in the United States alone – down from the debut Thursday which alone brought in $36 million. Total cash at the global box office is $551.6 million.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness debuted for $185 million last weekend, making it the 11th highest-grossing film of all time and also the biggest debut of the year 2022.
The film is the second biggest pandemic debut, after last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, which set the tone for the fantastic adventures of a parallel universe.
Actor Benedict Cumberbatch returns for the new film, alongside Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch), after she made some trouble in the Disney+ Wanda Vision series. Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams, and Chiwetel Ejiofor each resume their roles in the original Doctor Strange, and the new sequel introduces the audience to Xochitl Gomez as the heroine America Chavez. When she, endowed with the power to pass through space and time in the Marvel multiverse, reaches our world, Doctor Strange is the one who has to protect her from real and fantastic monsters, just as she has to protect our whole reality.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is expected to keep his position at the box office after numerous screenings in cinemas. Last weekend, a New York movie theater had over 60 screenings of Doctor Strange 2 in one day, showing the fascination of the Marvel universe with audiences and movie theater owners.
