Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness was always going to be a contender for the highest-grossing movie of the year, and as the film passes $800 million at the worldwide box office it has overtaken The Batman as the biggest movie of the year so far. Now in its third week on release, the Doctor Strange sequel is continuing to dominate the box office, and that means Marvel Studios have another potential $1 billion movie on their hands. Even if the film ends its run on the wrong side of the golden $1 billion mark, it has still surpassed every other movie released this year, and in fact every movie released since the start of 2020.
To further put the film’s current standing in perspective, if we were to include it in 2019’s movie releases, before the Covid pandemic caused so many issues for cinematic releases, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness would still sit within the Top 10 movies of the year. For those who have said that Marvel Studios have no plan for Phase 4 of the MCU, it doesn’t seem to be making any difference whatsoever when it comes to box office takings.
The biggest challenge Doctor Strange 2 has had to contend with is the reliance on audiences being away of Disney+ released shows like WandaVision. As the MCU expands with half a dozen TV show being released each year alongside their movies, fans have a lot to keep up with in order to fully appreciate the tapestry being woven by Marvel on the big and small screen. So far, it seems that audiences are more than willing to put in the effort to do just that.
Thor: Love and Thunder Will Look To Steal Doctor Strange’s Crown This Summer
Disney
While Doctor Strange has this weekend overtaken The Batman to be the biggest movie of the year so far worldwide, Marvel Studios are about to unleash another massive movie that could well see Doctor Strange’s reign at the box office cut short. Thor: Love and Thunder arrives in July, and with the new trailer arriving tomorrow, the hype machine is about to go into overdrive to push the next Marvel movie release to the heavens.
Of course, Thor is not the only big movie coming that could battle for the top spot, as next month brings Jurassic World: Dominion to theaters. As the culmination of the Jurassic World trilogy, the film is already in with a strong chance of outperforming both Marvel movies at the box office, but having the added pull of the return of original Jurassic Park stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, Dominion is going to dominate the box office in the coming weeks.
With the last couple of years being without many big blockbuster releases, this summer’s continuous roll of certain hits is just what theaters have needed to boost what has been a terrible decade so far for them. One thing for certain this year is that while all movies are still not performing quite as they used to, the films that are bringing out the big guns are doing so in style.