411 Box Office Report: Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness Rules With $185 Million

Marvel made another incursion into the box office this weekend, as Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness dominated its way to #1. The Sam Raimi-directed MCU film broke the box office as expected with a $185 million opening. Multiverse of Madness performed slightly above the $160 million to $180 million projected start thanks to high demand and buzz to beat out The Batman’s $134 million start for the best opening of the year so far.

Obviously, this was an unsurprising result. Event films are back in full force and Multiverse of Madness was an event film in every definition of the word. Buzz was high on this film thanks to the return of Sam Raimi to Marvel, the popularity of WandaVision and the wave that Spider-Man: No Way Home brought about. That resulted in a strong box office performance despite a slightly lower-than-average critic average for the MCU (a 75% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes) and a good (but not great) word of mouth that added up to a B+ CinemaScore and an 87% audience rating on RT.

Those lower scores aren’t worrying Disney at all, for the record. The studio knew what it was getting into when it decided to promote this film from the start as the MCU’s first entry into the horror genre, a genre that often brings in box office results but doesn’t necessarily play well to the four-quadrant audience that Marvel likes to target. This film has been (like much of the rest of Phase Four) a bit more polarizing than other MCU entries, but the box office results speak volumes and in addition to the $185 million domestic, the film has brought in $265 million overseas for a $450 million worldwide start. That means it’s already well on the path to profit, even against its $200 million production budget and a very expensive marketing campaign.

The big question at this point of course is how much this one will leg out to. Both superhero and horror movies are notoriously front-loaded, and this crosses both those genres together. It would be naïve to suggest that this will have the box office legs of something like Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was less polarizing and had the benefit of running through the holidays to boost its sustaining power. A better comparison is Avengers: Endgame, which had a similar release date and the big event feel. Endgame had a 2.4 multiple and that should be achievable for Multiverse, which would put it at a $445 million domestic total or so. No matter what though, make no mistake: this is a huge hit for the studio.

Doctor Strange pushed most everything else down, which of course relegated The Bad Guys to #2. The Universal and Dreamworks animated film brought in $9.8 million in its third frame, down a pretty solid 40% from the previous weekend. The adventure comedy has now grossed $57.6 million domestically and $148.1 million worldwide, putting it likely in the black at this point against a $69 million production budget plus marketing. The domestic total is looking to end at around $75 million, which will be a perfectly acceptable result here.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 came in at #3, bringing in $6.2 million in its fifth weekend for a 46% drop. The video game adaptation sequel has a total of $169.9 million domestically and $349.4 million worldwide, a hit for the studio. Sonic 2 should end its run at around $185 million in the US against its $90 million budget.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore continued its slip down the charts as it dropped 53% in its fourth weekend to pull in $4 million. The spinoff threequel continues to perform well overseas, which is its saving grace because $86 million domestically is not a number Warner Bros. wanted to see. It has $363.7 million worldwide and won’t lose much if any money against its $200 million production cost plus P&A, but either way the studio has to be thinking about its next step in the Wizarding World with some concern. Domestically it should close out at around $95 million or so.

A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once finally took a hit as its multiversal competition blasted its way to the top. The Michelle Yeoh-starring film fell 40% in its seventh frame to bring in $3.3 million. It has now grossed $41.6 million domestically and $45.4, less than $3 million behind Hereditary for A24’s second-highest domestic grosser ever. It should be able to approach $50 million by the end of its run. The budget was $25 million.

The Northman fell 57% as adult male audiences flocked to Doctor Strange The Robert Eggers-directed action film brought in $2.8 million in its third weekend and is currently sitting at $28 million domestically and $51.6 million worldwide. The problem is that this film cost $70 million, so it will not be a box office success. It should end its box office run around $35 million.

The Lost City held on well once again, adding $2.5 million in its seventh weekend for a 35% drop. The adventure-romantic comedy is now at $94.4 million domestic total and $162.8 million worldwide, successful against a $68 million budget. It still has a very good shot at topping $100 million by the end of its domestic run.

Nicolas Cage’s Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent fell hard in its third weekend, down 61% with $1.5 million. The meta-action comedy is a disappointment at this point with $16.4 million domestically and $20.8 million worldwide against a $30 million budget. It seems likely to end its domestic run at around $20 million or so.

Liam Neeson’s Memory followed up its meager start with a bad drop. The action thriller fell 61% in its second weekend to tally up $1.2 million. That’s an awful hold for a film that already started low, and it brings the movie’s totals to $5.5 million domestically and $5.6 million worldwide. It’s not good news here, as this looks unlikely to even top $10 million by the end of its box office time. No word on its budget, but this can’t be viewed as a success.

Mark Wahlberg’s Father Stu closed out the top 10 as it dropped 64% in its fourth weekend to $800,000. The faith-based biopic has grossed $19.2 million domestically and looks to be on course for about $22 million or so. The budget isn’t known for this one.

Next weekend will in no way be a challenge for Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness to top the box office again, as the only wide release also hits Peacock day-and-date. That would be the new adaptation of Stephen King’s Firestarter, which is looking at probably around the high single digits for its opening.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – $185 million ($185 million total, $450 million WW)
2. The Bad Guys – $9.8 million ($57.6 million total, $148.1 million WW)
3. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 – $6.2 million ($169.9 million total, $349.4 million WW)
4. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore – $4 million ($86 million total, $363.7 million WW)
5. Everything Everywhere All At Once – $3.3 million ($41.6 million total, $45.4 million WW)
6. The Northman – $2.8 million ($28 million total, $51.6 million WW)
7. The Lost City – $2.5 million ($94.4 million total, $162.8 million WW)
8. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent – $1.5 million ($16.4 million total, $20.8 million WW)
9. Memory – $1.2 million ($5.5 million total, $5.6 million WW)
10. Father Stu – $800,000 million ($19.2 million total, $19.2 million WW)