“Dr. Strange” from Marvel was the most lucrative film of the weekend for the third week in a row, but a future film could knock it off.
LOS ANGELES – Dr. Strange and his multi-universe are stuck at the top of the box office over the weekend while Tom Cruise and Top Gun wait in their wings.
Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in a Multi-World of Madness” became the most lucrative film of the weekend for the third week in a row, bringing in $ 31.6 million in 4,534 North American theaters, according to the studio’s estimates on Sunday.
“Downtown Abbey: A New Era” did well with the $ 16 million Focus Features in 3,820 theaters, but there was no real blockbuster competition for “Doctor Strange”.
“This film had a fairly wide market,” said Paul Dergarabedyan, a senior media analyst at Comscore. “This weekend really is, it’s a speech lull before the storm.”
This storm will come in the form of the long-awaited and long-delayed release of “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel that will come out next week on Remembrance Day, 36 years after the original hit and cultural landmark.
He flies amidst the hype.
“The marketing for this film really lasted about three years,” Dergarabedyan said. “It’s a long enough runway to cause a stir.”
On Wednesday, Cruz held a film festival in Cannes (France) with a stormy appearance at the European premiere of the film, which included a flight of French fighters and the honorary award “Palme d’Or”.
“Top Gun” is two seemingly disappearing phenomena – the main movie star and impressions only on the big screen, for which Cruz was a tireless ambassador. And the industry hopes they will help bring a more familiar summer to theaters.
“It will be one of the most important weekends on Remembrance Day, considering what we are talking about,” Dergarabedyan said. “We haven’t had a traditional summer movie season in two years.”
Prior to the pandemic, the summer box office season in total brought in more than $ 4 billion annually. After the virtually non-existent 2020, 2021 for the year of recovery was $ 1.75 billion. This year’s harvest of films, which also includes “Jurassic Dominion” and “Thor: Love and Thunder”, could double, Dergarabedyan said.
But while the world waits, “Dr. Strange in the Multiworld of Madness” has surpassed the $ 800 million mark in worldwide box office, surpassing “Batman” and becoming the highest grossing film of the year.
Released by Walt Disney Co. and directed by Sam Raimi, “Dr. Strange 2” became Marvel’s first film since “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” in which the sorcerer Benedict Cumberbatch played a key role.
It also draws on the popular Disney + series “Wandavision” and contains a number of episodes that fans didn’t want to spoil.
RELATED: Q&A: Sam Raimi on “Doctor Strange” and his return as a superhero
Third and fourth place went to Holder’s family films “Bad Guys” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”. Universal’s “bad guys” added $ 6.1 million in the fifth week. Sonic 2 earned $ 3.9 million in its seventh.
Alex Garland’s popular horror thriller “Men” has brought $ 3.3 million to the production company and distributor A24.
Meanwhile, “Everything Everywhere All Atte” still remains strong even after nine weeks of release. The A24 film earned an additional $ 3.3 million, only 6% less than the previous weekend, bringing total revenue to $ 47 million.
According to Comscore, the approximate ticket sales from Friday to Sunday in US and Canadian cinemas. The final internal figures will be released on Monday.
1. “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” $ 31.6 million.
2. “Downtown Abbey: A New Era,” $ 16 million.
3. “Bad Guys,” $ 6.1 million.
4. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”, $ 3.9 million.
5. “Men”, $ 3.3 million.
6. “Everything is everywhere and at once,” $ 3.1 million.
7. “Fantastic Monsters: Dumbledore’s Secrets”, $ 1.9 million.
8. “Firestarter”, $ 1.9 million.
9. “Lost City,” $ 1.5 million.
10. “North”, $ 1 million.
