A New Era’ Offers Stiff Competition to ‘Doctor Strange 2’ At Friday Box Office, Finishes At Number 2
Disney’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness claimed the top spot at the Friday box office with $8.5 million, fending off stiff competition from the week’s big new release, Downton Abbey: A New Era, which made $7.38 million. The superhero sequel is expected to make $30 million in its third weekend, while Downton Abbey 2 will likely claim the number two spot with an estimated $18 million.
By comparison, the original Downton Abbey movie made $31 million in its opening weekend back in 2019. It eventually finished with a little under $100 million both domestically and internationally, for a combined worldwide haul of $194 million. Fan favorite cast members Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Maggie Smith, Michelle Dockery, Laura Carmichael, Jim Carter and Phyllis Logan are back for the sequel, which takes the characters to the South of France.
Both Downton Abbey films, and the television show on which they are based, are geared toward an older crowd. And it has become quite apparent in the last couple of years that older audiences haven’t been as enthusiastic about returning to cinemas in a post-pandemic world.
The same can definitely not be said for fans that come out in droves for the latest superhero movies. Like its immediate predecessor—the record-smashing Spider-Man: No Way Home—Doctor Strange 2 is a bona fide hit, although it did have a concerning second-weekend drop. The film will touch the $340 million mark domestically by the end of its third weekend; its worldwide total stands at over $730 million.
Claiming the number three spot with $1.4 million, Universal’s release of Dreamworks Animation’s The Bad Guys continued its strong run. The kid-friendly heist film is expected to finish the weekend with $5.7 million, taking its running domestic total to just under $74 million. Worldwide, the film has made $171 million so far.
Another younger-skewing title, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is estimated to take the number four spot at the weekend box office. With $920,000 on its seventh Friday, the video game adaptation is expected to finish the weekend with $3.9 million, taking its running domestic total to a spectacular $181 million. Paramount has already put a spinoff and a sequel in development.
The fifth and sixth spots for the weekend were claimed by two A24 titles—one new and the other an all-time success story for the indie outfit. Director Alex Garland’s horror picture Men made $1.4 million on its first Friday for an estimated $3.3 million debut, while holdover hit Everything Everywhere All at Once made $889,000 on its ninth Friday, dropping just 4% from the last weekend. Directed by the Daniels, the film has now become A24’s most successful domestic release, with over $50 million in the bank.
Expect Doctor Strange 2 to finally relinquish the top spot next weekend, when Top Gun: Maverick flies in on the back of tremendous buzz and stellar reviews. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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