Doctor Strange Passes Ant-Man At Worldwide Box Office

11/20/2016 01:07 pm EST

Doctor Strange has begun climbing the rankings of Marvel Studios' box office successes. Marvel's latest blockbuster has passed 2015's Ant-Man at the worldwide box office. Does that mean a sequel is now guaranteed?

Over the weekend, Doctor Strange's worldwide box office total rose to $571 million. After just three weeks in theaters, Doctor Strange has surpassed Ant-Man's lifetime box office total of $519 million. Since that $519 million was enough for Marvel Studios and Walt Disney to quickly greenlight the sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, it seems like a second Doctor Strange movie is now a pretty sure bet.

Doctor Strange's success compared to Ant-Man is particularly impressive considering the wide audience appeal of Ant-Man star Paul Rudd. Ant-Man is generally considered the most lightheartedly of all of Marvel Studios' films to date and the most outright comedic of as well. This is likely what made the underdog Ant-Man movie the success that it was.

But Ant-Man also had the benefit of a July release date, right in the heart of blockbuster movie season, while Doctor Strange arrived in November when cooler temperatures usually correlate to cooler box office returns.

Thor: The Dark World was another November release from Marvel Studios and earned $644 million worldwide. $206 million of that was from the domestic market. With Doctor Strange already at $180 million domestically, after beating opening weekend projections by a significant margin, it seems like only a matter of time before the Sorcerer Supreme knocks the God of Thunder down a peg on Marvel's domestic chart.

Considering all of that, Doctor Strange 2 seems like an inevitability. Is that enough to consider Doctor Strange a success for Marvel Studios? It depends on what Marvel Studios was looking for. If they wanted to add another solid protagonist to the Marvel Cinematic Universe's cast that they could turn into a new series with a stellar return on investment, then yes, it seems clear that Doctor Strange is a success. If they were looking for a character with as much heat from fans as Iron Man, and the box office returns to match, they may have a way to go.

In Marvel's 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 now playing in theaters.

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