„Doctor Strange 2” este în topul box office-ului cu Boffo vineri, 90 de milioane de dolari

Au trecut 14 de ani de atunci Omul de fier scored the second-biggest non-sequel opening weekend, behind Sam Raimi’s Omul Paianjen, 20 years ago, with $102 million. It has been ten years since The Avengers solidified the MCU as a theatrical powerhouse, riding a wave of “Holy s***, they actually did it!” buzz to the first $200 million-plus domestic debut. Seven years ago, Avengers: Vârsta Ultron opened with $191 million and pundits screamed “Superhero Fatigue!” Four years ago, Răzbunători: războiul infinit detronat Star Wars: The Force trezește with a $258 million launch, only for Răzbunători: Endgame to open with $356 million a year later. Audiences don’t want superheroes. They don’t even want comic book movies. They specifically crave Marvel Comics superhero movies, specifically ones set within the ongoing Marvel Cinematic Universe. They often show up for DC Comics flicks too, but you get the idea.

Doctorul ciudat în multiversul nebuniei (revizuiască) grossed a massive $90 million in North America on its first Friday, including $36 million in Thursday previews. That’s a somewhat high 40% of the opening day figure via previews, which may mean a relatively front-loaded opening weekend. Still, even if it frontloads like Harry Potter și Religiile Morții partea II ($169 million from a then-record $91 million Friday), the Sam Raimi/Michael Waldron flick will still open with sad/shameful/pathetic $168 million this weekend. That would still be a bigger jump from Doctor ciudat (+98% from an $85 million debut in November 2016) than even Captain America: Războiul Civil (+88% de la iarna soldat’s $94 million debut). And that’s the worst-case scenario. 2x gets it to $182 million, just above Iron Man 3 ($ 174 milioane) și Captain America: Războiul Civil (179 milioane $).

Even with solid-but-not-superlative reviews (75% proaspăt și 6.5/10 pe Rotten Tomatoes) and a (frustratingly indecisive) B+ from Cinemascore, this isn’t a #CanThisFranchiseBeSaved? or #SuperheroFatigue situation. The film earned more in one day than Eternals, Black Widow și Shang-Chi earned in their opening Fri-Sun weekends. Not only is it guaranteed to snag the second biggest Covid-era debut behind Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260 million from a $121 million Friday last December), its $90 million Friday gross would be the fourth-biggest opening weekend since 2019 behind only Venin: Let There Be Carnage (90.03 milioane USD), Batmanul ($ 134 milioane) și Spider-Man 3 versiunea 2.0. If it legs out on par with the three Avengers sechele și Captain America: Războiul Civil, it’ll nab a $205-$220 million opening weekend. While Doctor ciudat 2 is a solo, stand-alone MCU sequel, it’s certainly opening like a “mythology episode.”

The marketing’s promise of multiverse cameos, possible links to Disney+’s WandaVision and other “must-see for the big picture” elements implicitly sold the film as an MCU event movie. And the delays created by Covid and related issues created a situation where Doctor ciudat 2 was positioned, opening three years after Răzbunători: Endgame, as an unofficial sequel to the “Infinity Saga” finale. Moreover, while it has been 6.5 years since Doctor ciudat (it opened theatrically just days before Donald Trump pulled off a shocking presidential electoral victory), Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer-Not-So-Supreme has cameoed in Thor: Ragnarök și Răzbunători: Endgame while appearing in supporting/co-starring roles in Răzbunători: războiul infinit și Spider-Man: No Way Home. The answer as to whether these ensemble appearances would lessen or increase the value of a straight-up Doctor ciudat sequel has been answered with a $91 million opening day.

Will word of mouth be impacted due to the film’s stand-alone nature, where the buzzy cameos and connective tissue are merely seasoning (as is usually the case with the MCU, natch), and via it not being a monumental Războiul civil-level event? Will the passionate Wanda fans be put off by the (very early) reveal that Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch has become a Terminator-like villain? Will chatter about the film’s horror elements and violence (it’s a Peter Jackson PG-13, not a Peyton Reed PG-13, and my ten-year-old quite relished the campy carnage) scare off parents? Will any of these things matter in the long run? In a skewed way, this is probably Marvel’s most subversive movie since Shane Black’s Iron Man 3. However controversial that movie now is nine years later, it still earned $409 million domestic and $1.215 billion worldwide.

Iron Man 3, care era Puterea Coșmarurilor for kids and whose Mandarin plot twist angered those wanting the genuine article, earned better reviews (77% and 7/10 from Rotten Tomatoes) and an A from Cinemascore back when the MCU was more of a periodic event and less of a regular occurrence. Doctor ciudat 2 is the third MCU movie to earn below an A-, along with Thor (a B+ way back in 2011) and Eterni (a B last November). The films may be slowly becoming more fan-centric (even if the “for fans only” ceiling is still ridiculously high) and thus more vulnerable to the whims of what differing fandom segments expected. Nonetheless, we’re talking about a movie that might crack $200 million domestic and (with $229 million global so far) $400 million worldwide this weekend, so “problem” is a relative term.