Word-of-mouth seems to be affecting Disney’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which is expected to finish its second weekend with $61 million. That’s slightly lower than what was predicted on Friday, and its 67% fall makes for one of the worst weekend-to-weekend drops for a Marvel Cinematic Universe film. And it could get worse, with some expecting a $60 million finish (a 68% fall), which would mean that Doctor Strange 2 is stepping into Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice territory.
Even though Spider-Man: No Way Home fell by 67.5% in its second weekend, it should be noted that the movie opened to a record-smashing (and front-loaded) $260 million, and that its sophomore weekend fell on the Christmas holiday. Doctor Strange 2 opened to $187 million, but could muster only a B+ CinemaScore, which doesn’t bode well. Overall, the film has made $291 million domestically, which far exceeds the lifetime domestic haul of the first Doctor Strange ($232 million).
Director Sam Raimi’s superhero sequel has also overtaken Scott Derrickson’s first Doctor Strange film internationally. Doctor Strange 2’s worldwide haul now stands at $688 million, as compared to the first film’s $677 million.
The week’s only major new wide release, Universal’s Stephen King adaptation Firestarter, fizzled with merely $3.8 million for a fourth place finish. There could a number of reasons behind this poor performance. First, the film has received some truly terrible reviews, which perhaps ties into the second: Universal chose to release it day-and-date on the in-house Peacock streaming service. It’s worth noting that the Blumhouse horror picture opened lower than the original Firestarter, which made $4.7 million (unadjusted and in fewer theaters!) in its opening weekend back in 1984.
Holdover animated hit The Bad Guys maintained its grip on the number two spot with an estimated $6.9 million in its fourth weekend. This takes the film’s running domestic total to a healthy $66 million. Another kid-friendly hit, Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2, finished at the number three spot with an estimated $4.5 million, taking its running domestic total to over $175 million. A sequel and spinoff are in the works.
The top five was rounded out for the third weekend in a row by the year’s biggest word-of-mouth hit, A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, which finished its eighth weekend with an estimated $3.3 million. This makes for a stellar 6% decline. With $47 million in the bank, the film is now poised to overtake Uncut Gems ($50 million) and Lady Bird ($49 million) to become A24’s biggest domestic release ever.
Overall business this weekend couldn’t cross the $100 million mark, which makes for a 37% decline from the same weekend in pre-pandemic 2019.
Next weekend will see the release of Downton Abbey: A New Era, but Doctor Strange 2 will face real competition on Memorial Day weekend, when the universally acclaimed Top Gun: Maverick flies into theaters.
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