AFP
Los Angeles (AFP) โ โDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnessโ enjoyed a blockbuster opening over the weekend, taking in an estimated $185 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.
That represented the biggest opening weekend of the year, the second-biggest of the pandemic era and the 11th biggest all time, analysts said.
โThis is another sensational Marvel opening, by Marvelโs own dominant standard,โ said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research.ย
The superhero sequel, directed by Sam Raimi and distributed by Disney, again stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role, backed by Elizabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejofor and Rachel McAdams.ย
The complicated plot โ how could a multiverse story not be complicated? โ includes alternate universes, witches and sorcerers, death and revival, and even an octopus demon.
With the huge bump from โDr. Strange,โ the weekendโs estimated gross offered more evidence of Hollywoodโs return from the darkest pandemic days: It was nearly 10 times the $22 million from the same weekend last year.
โStrangeโ shoved Universalโs animated action-comedy โThe Bad Guysโ out of the top spot where it had resided for two weeks. The DreamWorks Animation production took in $9.8 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period.ย
In third, also down one spot from last weekend, was Paramountโs family-friendly โSonic the Hedgehog 2,โ at $6.2 million.
Warner Bros.โ โFantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,โ the latest episode in the โHarry Potterโ prequel series, also slipped a notch, to fourth, at $4 million.
And with multiverse-based films seemingly everywhere, A24โs โEverything Everywhere All at Onceโ held to fifth spot, at $3.3 million. Michelle Yeoh stars as a beleaguered laundromat owner who is called on to save, well, pretty much everything.ย
Rounding out the top 10 were:ย
โThe Northmanโ ($2.8 million)
โThe Lost Cityโ ($2.5 million)
โThe Unbearable Weight of Massive Talentโ ($1.5 million)
โMemoryโ ($1.2 million)
โFather Stuโ ($800,000)