Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Launches to Huge International Box Office Opening Day
The international box office for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' opening day is lining up to be a huge one for the Marvel film. While the sequel to 2016's Doctor Strange has finally reached its domestic opening on Thursday evening, Wednesday delivered the numbers for the movie's international box office. According to Deadline, the first-day numbers for Doctor Strange 2 came in slightly behind Spider-Man: No Way Home, with the former totaling $27.2 million and coming in at 4% behind the latter. However, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness came out 153% ahead of the first Doctor Strange movie, and 210% ahead of The Batman.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was No. 1 in Asian territories and European markets such as France, Italy, and Germany. As for market shares, the Sam Raimi film is above 60% and as high as 90%. The preview numbers for the Marvel sequel are coming in strong as well. For example, Mexico reported $3.5 million, and $2.7 million came from Brazil, with Latin America totaling $10.3 million. However, the numbers from previews don't count amongst the $27.2 million opening day.
Even though turnout in Korea has been timid as fans cautiously return to theaters, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is proving to be the one film to bring audiences out of their homes. Korea reports are estimated to be $14.7 million, even with Thursday being a national public holiday for Children's Day. Wednesday marked the second-highest opening day for a Disney movie, with Avengers: Endgame coming in first place.
Fans are expecting some surprising cameos in Doctor Strange 2, and director Sam Raimi is teasing the quality of some unannounced characters. "[The cameos were] all done to titillate the fans and surprise them, to make them gasp, to give them — not exactly what they expected — but something that they would love," Raimi teased in an interview with Collider.
In a separate interview, screenwriter Michael Waldron said Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness "has to be Stephen Strange's story above all else," even when encountering variants on a mind-bending trek through the Multiverse.
"This is a Doctor Strange movie, and it's his story. It's a continuation of his emotional journey, picking up not just where the first movie left off but really where the last Marvel movies left off, now finding himself in a place where, in many ways, he's the anchor of the MCU in a post-Endgame world. So we let Stephen Strange's story be our North Star," the Loki writer told Black Film and TV. "As far as the other stuff... cameos, multiversal stuff. All that stuff is window dressing if it's not affecting our main characters in an emotional way. It's only exciting in so much that it's affecting the central human story of Stephen Strange and Wanda and all them."
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Elizabeth Olsen, Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Xochitl Gomez, with Michael Stühlbarg and Rachel McAdams.