‘Doctor Strange 2’ Breaks $800 Million Barrier at Global Box Office This Week

‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ Breaks $800 Million Barrier at Global Box Office | 'Doctor Strange 2' is currently the 14th highest grossing MCU movie worldwide.

Disney’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is defying mixed fan reception to deliver the goods at the box office. With $31 million domestically and another $40 million internationally in its third weekend, the film’s worldwide haul now stands at $803 million.

Directed by Sam Raimi, Doctor Strange 2 Película Completa has made $342 million in the U.S. and another $461 million overseas. IMAX accounts for $55.8 million. Crucially, the film hasn’t played in the world’s biggest movie market, China, and Russia, where Disney has imposed sanctions amid the ongoing Ukraine conflict. Once the dust is settled, Doctor Strange 2 is expected to conclude its international run with around $950 million.

While that’s nothing to scoff at—a $950 million finish would put the film at the 11th spot on the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s all-time worldwide box office list—it pales in comparison to the nearly $2 billion that its immediate predecessor, Spider-Man: No Way Home, made recently. Released in December to significantly more positive reviews and fan response, the Sony release featured Benedict Cumberbatch’s superhero in a prominent supporting role.

Many had expected, thanks in no small part to Cumberbatch’s comments, that Doctor Strange 2 will be a multiverse-hopping adventure on par with No Way Home, which united three generations of Spider-Man stars. But audiences were surprised to see a superhero sequel that dared to buck franchise tropes and displayed Raimi’s unmistakable directorial trademarks.

The filmmaker is perhaps best known for his original trilogy of Spider-Man films, but broke onto the scene with the DIY Evil Dead movies. In Doctor Strange 2, he returns to his roots; the film is dominated by his dynamic camerawork, tongue-in-cheek humor, and camp horror. Collider’s own Ross Bonaime wrote in his review, "Multiverse of Madness succeeds when it presents Raimi's gifts as a director, but falters through fan service and trying to one-up what came before.”

Overseas, the film’s biggest market is South Korea ($45.9 million), followed by the U.K. ($43.8 million), Mexico ($35.7 million), Brazil ($29.2 million) and Australia ($23 million). Even though it’ll face tough competition from Top Gun: Maverick next weekend, Doctor Strange 2’s decent holds suggests that it won’t be entirely obliterated in the coming weeks. Don't forget, it's the biggest film of the year, and the second biggest of the pandemic era.

Elsewhere, Sony’s Uncharted finally crossed the $400 million mark worldwide, and Universal’s The Bad Guys crossed the $100 million mark internationally. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.