Box Office: Doctor Strange 2 Crosses $550 Million Globally

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” still reigns supreme. The Marvel sequel crossed $550 million at the global box office in nine days, Disney announced Friday.

The Benedict Cumberbatch-led movie, directed by Sam Raimi, will put a spell over the box office once again this weekend, where it faces no major competition in theaters. The only other notable new release is Zac Efron’s “Firestarter,” a remake of the Stephen King novel from Universal that’s failing to spark many positive reviews. It earned $375,000 in Thursday previews, and it’s also available to stream on Peacock.

The latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe pulled $19.2 million globally on Thursday, including $7.7 million domestically — a drop from last Thursday powerful preview total of $36 million. Its total global box office haul currently stands at $551.6 million.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” debuted to an astonishing $185 million last weekend, marking the 11th highest domestic opening of all time and the biggest launch of 2022. It was also the second biggest opening of the pandemic era, following last year’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” which set the stage for the universe-crossing, supernatural adventure in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

Benedict Cumberbatch returns for the sequel and is joined by Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, after she caused some magical trouble in the Disney+ series “WandaVision.” Benedict Wong, Rachel McAdams and Chiwetel Ejiofor all reprise their roles from the original “Doctor Strange,” and the sequel introduces newcomer Xochitl Gomez as the young hero America Chavez. When America, who has the power to cross the infinite dimensions of the Marvel multiverse, finds herself in our world, Doctor Strange must protect her from a variety of magical and horrific monsters, all while keeping reality from unraveling.

Without many new releases, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is expected to keep its hold over the box office and many movie theater screenings. Last weekend, one New York City AMC theater featured more than 60 showingz of “Doctor Strange 2” in one day, showing just how intense the Marvel stranglehold is over theatergoers and theater owners.

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