Doctor Strangeproves, yet again, that Marvel Studios can afford to get weird from time to time. More like this movie, Ant-Manand Guardians of the Galaxy, please.
The latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is a box office hit, with an estimated $85 million opening weekend in the United States. That's right in line with the $85.7 million opening for Thor: The Dark Worldin 2013, which was Marvel's only other fall release to date.
SEE ALSO:The 'Doctor Strange' reviews are in, and they are magically deliciousIt's only the 10th-largest start across Marvel's 14 MCU releases to date, but it's also the #13 opening in the history of November releases. Considering that most of the movies ahead of it have "Harry Potter," "Hunger Games" or "Twilight" in their titles, that's not too shabby.
After those, only Skyfalland Thor: The Dark Worldare ahead of Strange.
Trollsfalls in at a distant #2 behind the Marvel flick, with an estimated $45.6 million at the box office. Having Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake lead a strong ensemble cast helps, but Trolls gives moviegoing parents an alternative to the edgier Strange.
Hacksaw Ridge, the latest from director Mel Gibson, opened wide for a #3 finish, with an estimated $14.8 million. Gibson will forever be chased by his past troubles with misogyny and anti-Semitism, but a strong critical reception for his Andrew Garfield-led World War II drama led to a solid start at the box office.
The rest of the weekend's domestic top five is filled out by Tyler Perry's Boo! A Madea Halloween(#4, $7.8 million estimated) and Inferno(#5, $6.3 million estimated). Boo!is a success for Perry, with $65 million grossed to date -- the third-highest of his Madeafilms.
It's a less happy outcome for Inferno, the latest Tom Hanks-led Dan Brown adaptation in the Da Vinci Codeseries. The two-week domestic total of $26.1 million is bad news for a feature said to be budgeted at $75 million, especially given the 58 percent slide down from its $14.9 million debut.
That said, the Brown adaptations are a proven success overseas. The first movie earned $540.7 million from foreign markets in 2006, and Angels & Demonsfollowed three years later with $352.6 million.
Infernocurrently stands at $159.3 million in foreign ticket sales. That's a success for Sony, irrespective of the movie's domestic performance. All of which is to say: don't assume the domestic flop means bad times ahead for the Robert Langdon series.
TopicsFilmMarvel