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Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ended Sunday atop the domestic box office for a second straight weekend. The brand-new Marvel Studios film had a tremendous amount to rave about throughout its debut, but its second-weekend numbers failed to maintain the momentum, as ticket sales dropped 67% for the Doctor Strange sequel.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness opened with a resounding bang during its premiere weekend, generating $187 million, which placed the Marvel Studios project ahead of Warner Bros.' The Batman for the best debut-weekend performance of the year. Internationally, Multiverse of Madness earned $265 million, bringing its global total to an impressive $450 million. With few new releases hitting theaters this weekend, there was no doubt the project would maintain its top box office position, but the diminished ticket sales speak volumes.
Per Deadline, the Doctor Strange sequel ended Friday with a $16.7 million domestic total. The film's Saturday performance was significantly better, ending the night with a substantial $26.5 million total, but numbers dipped by the close of Sunday, bringing the film's overall second weekend total to $61 million. Of course, second-weekend ticket sale drops are not foreign, especially for a film that busted down the box office doors so aggressively with its impressive premiere, but the 67% decline is surprising because of where it sits among recent Marvel Studios films.
Marvel Studios' Eternals experienced a 61% drop in tickets sales at the end of its second weekend, while Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings encountered a 52% decline. On the surface it would appear troubling, especially with the amount of hype the Doctor Strange sequel received compared to these two recent Marvel Studios films, but one has to take into account what these projects generated by the end of their opening weekends. Eternals earned $69.5 million at the end of its three-day premiere, while Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings took home $71.4 million. The opening numbers from both Marvel Studios projects are solid, but nowhere near the $187 million total generated by Multiverse of Madness.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is no exception to the second-weekend ticket sales drop, but the numbers have to be brought into perspective. The film took home $260 million and experienced a 67.5% decrease in ticket sales by the end of its second weekend. It's unfair to expect these films to replicate their debut weekend success, but questions surrounding their decline should be asked. The pandemic played a part in some decreasing numbers for the MCU, but Doctor Strange 2 seems to be coated in a different issue. The film was met with mixed reviews, earning a 74% on Rotten Tomatoes and a B+ grade from CinemaScore, which didn't fully motivate audiences to witness the new adventure in theaters.
The lack of motivation is somewhat concerning because there wasn't much to rival Doctor Strange 2 at the domestic box office this weekend. The weekend's newest release, Firestarter, flamed out with a dismal $3.8 million debut, which could be tied to its simultaneous releases on the Peacock streaming service. With not much competition, one would have expected the Marvel Studios film to attract a larger audience, but things ultimately went down a declining path. It'll be interesting to see how the Doctor Strange sequel fairs in the coming weeks, especially with Tom Cruise's Top Gun: Maverick and the Memorial Day weekend approaching.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is currently playing in theaters.
Source: Deadline