“Doctor Strange” $85 Million BO Opening (US)

Congratulations to the “Doctor Strange” cast and crew, because the movie is charting a No. 1 opening of $85M at 3,882 theaters in the United States. This is a personal record for Rachel: It’s her largest opening weekend in the US, according to Box Office Mojo. Since 2009 “Sherlock Holmes” was Rachel’s best opening weekend in the US but “Doctor Strange” surpassed it with over 30 million. The movie also received an A CinemaScores according to Deadline. Variety is reporting the following story:

This time it’s Stephen Strange’s turn to dominate the multiplexes, after “Doctor Strange,” the first big-screen appearance for the Master of the Mystic Arts, was the top ticket seller this weekend with a $85 million debut. It marks the 14th straight first place opening for a Marvel film, a feat matched only by Pixar.

“Doctor Strange’s” opening trumps those of “Thor” ($65.7 million), “Captain America: The First Avenger” ($65 million), and “Ant-Man” ($57.2 million). That’s impressive given that Captain America and Thor are better known figures. Still the good doctor couldn’t quite reach the stratospheric heights of “Iron Man” ($98.6 million), “Captain America: Civil War” ($179.1 million), or “Marvel’s The Avengers” ($207.4 million). Those films benefited from having Robert Downey Jr. or featured superhero team-ups. “Doctor Strange” wasn’t cheap to make. Disney and Marvel spent $165 million to give the Sorcerer Supreme the celluloid treatment.

Globally, the film is a monster, having earned $240.4 million since it began rolling out overseas last week. That includes a $44.3 million debut in China, with Korea ($30.4 million), the United Kingdom ($18.9 million), and Russia ($15.4 million) among the top-performing territories.

“Doctor Strange” played well in Imax, earning $24.2 million globally, as well as in 3D, earning 47% of its domestic grosses from RealD screens. The film’s worldwide total stands at $325.4 million. Earlier this week, Disney announced that it had reached a new company pinnacle for global ticket sales with $5.85 billion. The box office power of “Doctor Strange” coupled with upcoming releases such as “Moana” and “Star Wars: Rogue One” mean that Disney is on pace to set a new industry-wide record, passing the $6.89 billion mark established by Universal in 2015.

Deadline is reporting the following top 3:

Top 11 films per studio-reported estimates for Nov. 5-7:
1). Doctor Strange (SONY), 3,882 theaters / $32.6M Fri. (includes $9.4M previews) /$31.1M Sat./$21.2M Sun./ 3-day cume: $85M /Wk 1
2). Trolls (DWA/20th Century Fox), 4.060 theaters / $12.3M Fri. (includes $900K previews) /$20.1m Sat./$13.1M Sun./ 3-day cume: $45.6M /Wk 1
3). Hacksaw Ridge (Lionsgate), 2,886 theaters / $5.3M Fri. (includes $750K previews) /$5.9M Sat./$3.5M Sun/ 3-day cume: $14.7M/ Wk 1