With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness set to premiere in theaters worldwide on May 5, the film is projected to have one of the biggest opening weekends of the year.
The second installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Doctor Strange franchise is reportedly on the path to earn over $175 million at the domestic box office this weekend, and between $285 million and $340 million globally, according to Variety. The movie—which doubles as a follow-up to Disney+’s first MCU TV series WandaVision—has collected $65 million in presale tickets. If Multiverse of Madness hits these numbers, it will have the biggest opening weekend of 2022 so far. That title is currently held by The Batman, which tallied an impressive $134 million domestic opening weekend. The film reportedly cost roughly $200 million to produce.
The projected box office would also give the Doctor Strange sequel the second-biggest opening weekend in the COVID-19 era, sitting only behind its Marvel sibling Spider-Man: No Way Home, which earned a record-breaking $260 million on its opening weekend last December.
Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Benedict Wong, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Elizabeth Olsen, and more, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is the long-awaited sequel to Strange’s 2016 origin film. The erstwhile Sorcerer Supreme played a pivotal role in No Way Home, and with rumors of Patrick Stewart reprising his X-Men role of Professor X, the arrival of the Illuminati, and more wild cameos, Multiverse of Madness looks to be one of the most important MCU movies yet.
