In news that will surprise no one: Once again, box-office tracking was off the mark. Heading into the weekend, predictions placed “Doctor Strange” opening between $70-75 million. Well, the experts were wrong, as the debut was bigger than expected and once again, Marvel has another hit on their hands.
“Doctor Strange” debuted in North America with an excellent $84 million, putting it just a whisper behind the opening figures for “Thor: The Dark World.” While the $644 million worldwide haul for that movie is a good benchmark to set for “Doctor Strange,” there’s a possibility it could finish a bit higher. The film is doing very well internationally, and in China alone, it tallied $44.3 million, the third-best start for a movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in that country. After two weeks in release around the globe, “Doctor Strange” is already at $325 million worldwide, helping to push Disney‘s global box office for the year to over $6 billion. Wowsers.
Parents have to take their kids to see something, and with few other options at the multiplex (“Doctor Strange” earns that PG-13 rating in the first few minutes), they lined up and bought tickets to “Trolls.” The film took $45 million at home and another $68 million abroad for a $114 million worldwide haul. The figures are similar to what “The Peanuts Movie” did in the same time frame last year, but this should have much better play and bigger returns overseas. Those are the kinds of numbers that will certainly spur sequel talk, and you can bet 20th Century Fox are going to seriously entertain that notion.
“Mel Gibson is back and everyone has forgiven him” is the narrative that continues to be spun, but when it came to “Hacksaw Ridge,” his audience as a director has pretty much stayed the same. The intense WWII movie earned a respectable $14.7 million, which is just shy of what “Apocalypto” did a decade ago. That film went on to earn $50 million at home, part of a $120 million worldwide take. The awards season will determine the longevity of “Hacksaw Ridge” as it faces a very crowded corridor up ahead of both contenders and blockbusters coming to multiplexes. “Apocalypto” earned three below-the-line nominations, but if “Hacksaw Ridge” gets some recognition in bigger categories, a boost at the box office is sure to follow. All that said, it would appear that Lionsgate‘s efforts to court the faith-based crowd to see this film didn’t quite pan out.
READ MORE: Mel Gibson’s Viscerally Affecting But Ethically Worrisome ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ [Venice Review]
In limited release, the story still belongs to “Moonlight,” which expanded in week three, and in 83 cinemas added $1.3 million to the bottom line. Jeff Nichols‘ “Loving” did very well in its debut on four screens, earning $169,00 for a $42,250 PSA, while documentary “The Eagle Huntress” landed $53,848 on four screens for a $13,462 PSA.
1. “Doctor Strange” — $84.9 million
2. “Trolls” — $45.6 million
3. “Hacksaw Ridge” — $14.7 million
4. “Boo! A Madea Halloween” — $7.8 million ($64.9 mil.)
5. “Inferno” — $6.2 million ($26 mil.)
6. “The Accountant” — $5.9 million ($70.8 mil.)
7. “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” — $5.5 million ($49.2 mil.)
8. “Ouija: Origin Of Evil” — $3.9 million ($31.3 mil.)
9. “The Girl On The Train” — $2.7 million ($70.7 mil.)
10. “Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children” — $2.1 million ($83.3 mil.)