Disney/Marvel Studios’ Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness produced the second highest North American opening weekend of the pandemic era and the best of the year-to-date as an estimated $185m contributed to the $450m global start.
The stirring launch for the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) tentpole starring Benedict Cumberbatch in 4,534 locations means MCU releases now account for five of the top seven pandemic era debut opening weekends alongside Spider-Man: No Way Home (#1), Black Widow (#5), Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (#6) and Eternals (#7).
According to daily estimates the film earned $90m on Friday opening day, $57.5m on Saturday and $37.5m on Sunday. The weekend total puts Sam Raimi’s superhero adaptation at eleventh in the all-time North American opening weekend pantheon, nestled between Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles 2 on $182.7m and Disney/Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Age Of Ultron $191.3m.
It also ranks as MCU’s seventh best opening weekend and the third highest non-Avengers debut behind No Way Home and Black Panther.
Premium formats including Imax, Premium Large Format brands, 3D and Motion auditoriums accounted for 36% of overall box office, with 3D earning a 9% chunk that is close to the portion in 2018/2019 pre-pandemic releases such as Captain Marvel (11%), Ant-Man & The Wasp (10%) and Spider-Man: Far From Home (9%).
Imax generated $18m from 410 Imax screens in North America for am Imax May record and the sixth best Imax North American opening weekend of all time. The per-screen average was $44,000 average and Thursday’s preview night ranks as the fifth best.
Overall there was a 62%-38% male-female split. General audiences accounted for an 88% overall share, with parents and children accounting for 8% and 4%, respectively. The dominant age group was the 25-34 bracket on 30%, with 18-24 on 27%, 35-44 on 15%, and both 13-17 and the 45+ crowd on 12% apiece.
Screen will report on full international numbers tomorrow.
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