‘Doctor Strange 2’ Holds onto the Top for Weekend 2 – WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stayed at the top of the box office for its second weekend in theaters and earned an additional $61 million in North American theaters, according to the studio’s estimates as of Sunday.

With global sales of $688 million, it’s already one of the highest-grossing films of the pandemic and the second-biggest of 2022. But a 67% drop is also a steep drop — even for reliably preloaded superhero films. Still, Spider-Man: No Way Home slipped 68% in its second weekend.

Published by The Walt Disney Co., Doctor Strange 2 benefited from being the first Marvel film to follow Spider-Man: No Way Home, which starred Benedict Cumberbatch’s wizard.

Directed by Sam Raimi, Doctor Strange 2 also builds on the hit Disney+ series Wandavision and includes a number of cameos that fans didn’t want to spoil. All the elements came together to make Doctor Strange the 11th greatest domestic debut of all time. However, the reviews were not quite as strong as the last “Spider-Man” part, which could have a long-term effect on the film.

The film has already surpassed the worldwide grossing of the first Doctor Strange film and 11 other Marvel Cinematic Universe titles – and it’s not even set in China.

“Audience craves these big blockbusters on the big screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “This marketplace gave ‘Doctor Strange’ quite a long trajectory to succeed up to ‘Top Gun’.”

Little stood in the way of new competition. The only major new film was Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Firestarter, which was released in both theaters and on the company’s streaming service, Peacock+.

“Firestarter,” starring Zac Efron and Ryan Kiera Armstrong, grossed just $3.8 million in 3,412 theaters in North America. Reviews for the film didn’t budge by release day, but critics were less than impressed with this iteration of King’s story about a youth with pyrokinetic powers. The audience wasn’t on board either, giving it a C-CinemaScore. However, as Dergarabedian noted, no film launching “Day and Date” in theaters and streaming expects to break any records.

“The notion that an exclusive theatrical debut gives the films the best chance of success is correct,” said Dergarabedian.

Firestarter debuted in fourth place, behind holdover family films The Bad Guys and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, which took second and third place. Now in its fourth weekend, Universal’s “The Bad Guys” added $6.9 million, bringing its global earnings to $165.6 million. “Sonic 2” earned $4.6 million in its sixth week, bringing its total to $175.7 million.

Meanwhile, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is still doing well after eight weeks of release. The A24 film grossed an additional $3.3 million, down just 6% from the previous weekend, bringing its total box office to $47 million.

Faith-based comedy Family Camp also opened at Roadside Attractions this weekend. Across 854 screens, the PG-rated image grossed $1.4 million. And Bleecker Street released the well-reviewed indie Montana Story, starring Haley Lu Richardson as a woman who returns home with her estranged brother to care for her ailing father. “Montana Story” grossed $20,104 in four theaters.

In the coming weeks things will go uphill: Next weekend Focus Features will debut with “Downton Abbey: A New Era” and A24 with the Alex Garland thriller “Men”, before all Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick”. clear the way. ” This flies to the cinema Memorial Day weekend.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday in US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. The final domestic figures will be released on Monday.

1. “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” $61 million

2. “The Bad Guys,” $6.9 million.

3. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”, $4.6 million.

4. “Firestarter”, $3.8 million.

5. “Everything, Everywhere at Once,” $3.3 million.

6. “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”, $2.4 million.

7. “The Lost City”, $1.7 million.

8. “The Northman,” $1.7 million.

9. “Family Camp”, $1.4 million.

10. “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” $1 million.

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