Doctor Strange Shatters Projections At Opening Weekend International Box Office

Marvel’s Doctor Strange is proving to be worthy of the name of the Sorcerer Supreme at the international box office.

Doctor Strange opened to $86 million at the international box office, blowing by its projected total of $55-60 million. That also puts Doctor Strange outpacing the performance of Ant-Man by 49 percent, Guardians of the Galaxy by 37 percent, Captain America: The Winter Soldier by 23 percent, and Thor: The Dark World by 1 percent in the same 33 markets that Doctor Strange opened in this weekend.

Korea was the biggest market for Doctor Strange on opening weekend, as expected. The 33 countries the film is currently playing in amounts to 45 percent of the film’s overall market reach.

Doctor Strange is also IMAX’s biggest October international opening ever, playing on 213 IMAX screens across 32 countries. So far Doctor Strange has earned $7.8 million in IMAX screenings alone.

Doctor Strange is one of the new generation of Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes being introduced in Marvel Studios’ Phase 3 films. Marvel has begun their full-court promotional press, including a new line retail Doctor Strange merchandise. A recent promotional video revealed a first look at Doctor Strange villain the Dread Dormammu. You can even find Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum on Google Maps.

While this is Doctor Strange’s first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it certainly won’t be his last. Strange’s eventual enlistment in the Avengers has already been confirmed by star Benedict Cumberbatch, and he is known to appear in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson has even already been formulated plans for a Doctor Strange sequel.

Cumberbatch can also be spotted hosting Saturday Night Live on the Saturday of Doctor Strange‘s opening weekend. If SNL stays true to form, there’s a good chance we’ll see Cumberbatch parodying his role as Marvel’s master of the mystic arts.

In Doctor Strange, Dr. Stephen Strange’s (Benedict Cumberbatch) life changes after a car accident robs him of the use of his hands. When traditional medicine fails him, he looks for healing, and hope, in a mysterious enclave. He quickly learns that the enclave is at the front line of a battle against unseen dark forces bent on destroying reality. Before long, Strange is forced to choose between his life of fortune and status or leave it all behind to defend the world as the most powerful sorcerer in existence.

Doctor Strange is directed by Scott Derrickson, who wrote the screenplay with C. Robert Cargill from a story by the duo and Jon Spaihts, and stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton.

Doctor Strange opens in the United States and in other markets, including China, on Nov. 4, 2016.