“Doctor Strange 2” continues to take first place in the box office charts for the second weekend in a row – Morning Bell

“Dr. Strange in a Multi-World of Madness” remained at the top of the box office during his second weekend in theaters, earning an additional $ 61 million in North American theaters, according to the studio on Sunday.

With global revenue of $ 688 million, it is already one of the highest grossing films of the pandemic and the second largest in 2022. But the 67% drop is also a sharp drop – even for reliable superhero movies. However, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” fell 68% the second weekend.

Released by Walt Disney Co., “Doctor Strange 2” became the first Marvel film to accompany “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” in which the sorcerer Benedict Cumberbatch played a key role.

“Dr. Strange 2” directed by Sam Raimi also draws on the popular Disney + series “Wandavision” and contains a number of episodes that fans did not want to spoil. All the elements have come together to make “Doctor Strange” the 11th largest domestic debut of all time. But the reviews were also not as strong as in the last part of “Spider-Man”, which could affect the film in the long run.

The film has already surpassed the global revenue of the first film, Dr. Strange, as well as 11 other Marvel titles – and is not even shown in China.

“The public wants these big blockbusters on the big screen,” said Paul Dergarabian, a senior Comscore media analyst. “This market has given Dr. Strange a fairly long runway to be successful before Top Gun.”

Little was in the way of new competition. The only major new film was a film adaptation of Stephen King’s Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s “Firestarter,” which was released in both theaters and on Peacock + ‘s streaming service.

Starring Zach Efron and Ryan Kira Armstrong, “Firestarter” earned just $ 3.8 million in 3,412 North American theaters. Reviews of the film did not decrease until the day of release, but critics were not very impressed by this iteration of King’s story about a teenager with pyrokinetic abilities. The audience was also not on board, giving it a C-CinemaScore. However, as Dergarabedyan noted, no film that opens “day and date” in cinemas and on broadcast, does not expect to break records.

“The notion that an exclusive debut in a cinema gives films a better chance of success is correct,” Dergarabedyan said.

“Firestarter” debuted in fourth place, after the family films “Bad Guys” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”, which took second and third place. Now in the fourth weekend Universal “The Bad Guys” has added $ 6.9 million, bringing its global revenue to $ 165.6 million. Sonic 2 earned $ 4.6 million in its sixth week, raising the total to $ 175.7 million.

Meanwhile, “Everything Everywhere All Atte” still remains strong even after eight weeks of release. The A24 film earned an additional $ 3.3 million, only 6% less than the previous weekend, bringing total revenue to $ 47 million.

This weekend the religious comedy “Family Camp” opened at the Roadside Attractions. Playing on 854 screens, the photo with a PG rating earned $ 1.4 million. And Bleecker Street has released the well-reviewed indie “Montana Story,” starring Hailey Lou Richardson as a woman who returns home with her separated brother to care for a sick father. The History of Montana raised $ 20,104 in four theaters.

In the coming weeks, things will get much better: next weekend Focus Features debuts “Downton Abbey: New Era”, and A24 has Alex Garland’s thriller “Men” before everyone clears the way for Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick”. “It arrives at the theater on Remembrance Day weekend.

According to Comscore, the approximate ticket sales from Friday to Sunday in US and Canadian cinemas. The final internal figures will be released on Monday.

1. “Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” $ 61 million

2. “Bad Guys,” $ 6.9 million.

3. “Sonic the Hedgehog 2”, $ 4.6 million.

4. “Firestarter”, $ 3.8 million.

5. “Everything is everywhere and at once,” $ 3.3 million.

6. “Fantastic Monsters: Dumbledore’s Secrets”, $ 2.4 million.

7. “Lost City,” $ 1.7 million.

8. “North”, $ 1.7 million.

9. “Family Camp,” $ 1.4 million.

10. “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” $ 1 million.