Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has kicked off its international box office with a very strong opening day performance. Thursday receipts for the first Marvel Cinematic Universe movie of 2022 brought in over $27 million overseas, which puts the film only 4% behind the opening days takings of Spider-Man: No Way Home back in December 2021. Considering how that movie ended up being a record-breaker, this will be an encouraging start for Marvel Studios and could see the opening weekend total end above expectations. In other comparisons, Multiverse of Madness has obliterated the opening day of 2016’s release of Doctor Strange and of The Batman in March, coming in at 153% ahead and 210% ahead respectively.
While cinemas across the world are now welcoming back larger numbers of moviegoers following the Covid pandemic shutdowns of the last two years, there is still no guarantee of movies drawing in fans, as movies like The Northman recently found out, but when it comes to Marvel movies, it seems that the cinematic experience is still as important as it ever was. Sam Raimi’s directorial return to Marvel is guaranteed to take the No.1 position this weekend around the world, and at early counts the film appears to be taking between 60-90% of the market in the countries it has already launched in.
According to Deadline, the dark foray into the Marvel multiverse has worked its magic around the world, and even managed to bring out the public in countries like Korea, where a return to cinemas has been quite slow, but where the Doctor Strange sequel has arrived with the second-highest Disney movie opening behind Avengers: Endgame. Adding in similar stories across Asia and Europe, it seems like once again there is not much that can stop the Marvel bandwagon.
Multiverse of Madness Promises A Lot of Cameos, and Is A Pay-Off For WandaVision Fans.
While Multiverse of Madness is a Doctor Strange movie, and the former Sorcerer Supreme will have his character questioned during his trek through the multiverse, there is a lot more to be found in the movie than just the journey of Strange. As well as many teased cameos, old faces and new, there is also the inclusion of Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff, who joins the movie shortly after the end of WandaVision.
Like most Marvel movies, the film works on more than one front, and while this is a sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange, it is also a continuation of Spider-Man: No Way Home, WandaVision and Loki, which means that it is one of the most interconnected movies released by Marvel Studios to date. Of course, Avengers: Endgame arrived with a similar caveat and having knowledge of the story so far is almost essential to get anything meaningful from the movie. While this has often been cited as a criticism by some, it is a strategy that has certainly been paying off in a big way, and clearly there is not a hint of fatigue on the horizon. With Thor: Love and Thunder set to continue that continuation trend in July, it is going to be a big summer for Marvel Studios and their heroes.