Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness took a 67 percent plunge in its sophomore frame and earned $61 million, enough to top the domestic box office for the second straight week. Though, the steep decline ranks up there with Marvel Studios’ worst, namely Spider-Man: No Way Home (-67.5%) and Black Widow (-67.8%). Except, Spidey and Black Widow had excuses — the former’s second weekend landed on Christmas Eve, while Black Widow was simultaneously released on Disney+ PVOD.
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Doctor Strange 2, according to Deadline, is suffering from bad word of mouth. Audiences awarded the Sam Raimi directed flick a B+, which is about on par with Zack Snyder’s Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Marvel’s own Eternals, both of which tapered off rather quickly. Still, don’t weep too hard for Marvel. Doctor Strange 2 is nearing $700 million globally and looks poised to hit somewhere between $900-950 million when all is said and done. At the same time, that’s probably not the gargantuan total Marvel expected after last week’s eye-popping opening.
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Elsewhere, Firestarter didn’t exactly light the box office on fire with a putrid $3.8 million opening from 3,412 theaters. The Stephen King adaptation failed to top the original 1984 Drew Barrymore vehicle, which earned $4.7 million from just 1,356 theaters. The $12 million production drew a C- CinemaScore and will likely disappear off the face of the Earth rather quickly.
Next week sees the release of Downton Abbey: A New Era before Tom Cruise swoops in with Top Gun: Maverick one week later. Can either of these films ignite the box office?
TOP 10 DOMESTIC
(per Deadline)
1.) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Dis) 4,534 theaters, Fri $16.7M (-81%)/ Sat $26.5M, Sun $17.7M, 3-day $61M (-67%)/Total $291.9M/Wk 2
2.) The Bad Guys (Uni) 3,788 (-51) Theaters, Fri $1.68M (-28%), Sat $3.16M, Sun $2.06M, 3-day $6.9M (-28%)/Total $66.2M/Wk 4
3.)Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Par) 3,116 (-242) theaters, Fri $1.03M (-31%), Sat $2.1M, Sun $1.42M, 3-day $4.55M (-24%)/Total $175.7M/Wk 6
4.) Firestarter (Uni) 3,412 theaters, Fri $1.55M (includes previews), Sat $1.38M, Sun $890K, 3-day $3.8M/Wk 1
5.) Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) 1,726 (+184) theaters, Fri $917,4K (-3%), Sat $1.36M, Sun $1M, 3-day $3.3M (-6%)/Total $47.1M/Wk 8
6.) Fantastic Beasts…Dumbledore (WB), 2,578 (-473) theaters, Fri $640K (-38%), Sat $1.08M, Sun $700K, 3-day $2.42M (-43%)/Total $90M/Wk 5
7.) The Lost City (Par) 1,675 (-222) theaters Fri. $470K (-25%), Sat $765K, Sun $530K, 3-day $1.73M (-37%)/Total $97.1M/ Wk 8
8.) The Northman (Foc) 1,934 (-479) theaters, Fri $490K (-41%), Sat $730K, Sun $480K, 3-day $1.7M (-41%)/Total $31.1M/Wk 4
9.) Family Camp (RSA) 854 theaters, Fri $499K, Sat $530K, Sun $398K, 3-day $1.42M/Wk 1
10.) Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (LG) 1,076 (-255) theaters, Fri $291K (-31%), Sat $459K, Sun $300K, 3-day $1.05M (-33%)/Total $18.2M/Wk 4