The No. 1 movie worldwide might be called Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but the real madness is in its opening-weekend numbers.
Marvel’s latest blockbuster grossed $185 million domestically in its debut weekend, while earning $450 million globally, per The Hollywood Reporter. The domestic earnings mark the second-largest in the pandemic era, as well as the 11th largest domestic launch in history. Seven Marvel films sit above it, including Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.3 million), Black Panther ($202 million), The Avengers ($207.3 million), Avengers: Infinity War ($257.7 million), Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260.1 million) and Avengers: Endgame ($357.1 million).
In terms of 2022, only The Batman has seen more success in the U.S., earning $369.1 million so far. The movie is also playing in 4,545 theaters, which marks the fifth-biggest showing of all time, per THR.
Ahead of the film’s release, Complex’s Kayla Rodriguez spoke with Cumberbatch about the road to the film, when he explained that while he’s aged since the first film, the character felt familiar.
“It didn’t feel unfamiliar,” he shared. “But what’s nice in this is we get to stretch him and evolve him in a way that only standalone films can actually do. And there’s certainly a lot of that for the audience to pick up on and enjoy. And I can’t wait to see what folks think of where we take it to this film, and what the potential is going forward.”
Cumberbatch also took on hosting duties on Saturday Night Live this weekend, when he joked in his opening monologue that writers kept pitching him skit ideas around the new film, despite his other work.
“I said, ‘C’mon, man, I was nominated for an Oscar for that. I didn’t win. I was beat by Will Smith,” he joked about The Power of Dog. “Not physically. Not physically.”
