Marvel Studios’ “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” has gone unchallenged in its reign at the box office, easily taking No. 1 again with $16.7 million grossed on its second Friday and an estimated second weekend total of $62 million.
That would be a somewhat larger second weekend drop from its $187 million opening weekend than MCU films like “Captain America: Civil War” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” which had similar openings and topped $70 million in their second frame. Still, Sam Raimi’s MCU film is close to joining “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and “The Batman” as only the third film of the COVID era to earn more than $300 million at the global box office, and will also pass $600 million in global grosses this weekend.
The sole newcomer to the top 5 is Universal/Blumhouse’s adaptation of Stephen King’s “Firestarter,” which is opening in the No. 4 spot with only $1.5 million grossed from 3,412 theaters on opening day and a mere $3.5 million estimated opening weekend.
Like all Blumhouse productions, the price tag on this horror film is low at $12 million, so any loss that Universal might take on this film will easily be erased by the blockbusters ahead this summer. The bad news is that reception for the film has been very poor with a 15% critics and 43% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes to go with a C- on CinemaScore. Expect this film to be swept out of the top 5 next weekend.
“Firestarter” opened below the holdover numbers from Universal’s other current release, “The Bad Guys,” and Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2.” “The Bad Guys” is estimated to add $6.6 million in its fourth weekend as it continues to draw in families with younger children, while “Sonic 2” will add $4.2 million in its sixth weekend as it approaches $175 million in domestic grosses.
A24/AGBO’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” completes the top 5 as it has for the past month, adding an estimated $3 million in its eighth weekend as it inches closer and closer to passing the $50 million total of “Uncut Gems” and becoming A24’s highest grossing film ever.