‘Doctor Strange 2’ Reviews Praise Sam Raimi’s Flourishes, But Warn Against Exhausting Plot

LOS ANGELES -- Doctor Strange and his multiverse got to linger a little longer atop the weekend box office as Tom Cruise and “Top Gun” wait in the wings.Marvel's “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” was the top-earning film of the weekend for the third straight week, bringing in $31.6 million in 4,534 North American theaters, according to studio estimates released Sunday.“Downtown Abbey: A New Era” made a strong opening showing for Focus Features with $16 million from 3,820 theaters, but there was no real blockbuster competition for “Doctor Strange."That will change with the long awaited, and long delayed, release of “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel that arrives next week on Memorial Day weekend, 36 years after the original smash hit and cultural landmark.It flies in amid sky-high hype.Cruise had the film festival in Cannes, France, abuzz on Wednesday with a whirlwind appearance for the film's European premiere that included a fly over of French fighter jets and an honorary Palme d’Or award.But while the world waits, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” crossed the $800 million mark in global grosses, surpassing “The Batman” to become the top-grossing film of the year.Released by the Walt Disney Co. and directed by Sam Raimi, “ Doctor Strange 2 ” benefitted from being the first Marvel movie to follow “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” in which Benedict Cumberbatch’s sorcerer played a pivotal role.It also builds upon the popular Disney+ series “Wandavision” and contains a number of cameos that fans didn’t want to be spoiled.Holdover family films “The Bad Guys” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” took the third and fourth spots.

Refresh for latest…: Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness crossed $800M globally this weekend, now with $803.2M after three frames. Of that $342.1M is from domestic and $461.1M from the international box office. The offshore drop was 53% with $40M from 49 markets.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” stayed on top of the box office charts during its second weekend in theaters, earning an additional $61 million from North American theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.With $688 million in global grosses, it’s already one of the highest grossing films of the pandemic and the second biggest of 2022. But a 67% fall is also a steep drop — even for reliably frontloaded superhero films.

J. Kim Murphy The sorcerer continues to reign supreme in North America’s multiplexes of madness.

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 opening weekends 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 over $300 million at the global box office, and will also pass $600 million in global grosses this weekend.

Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness writer Michael Waldron has confirmed there were discussions about a Deadpool cameo.The Marvel character, played by Ryan Reynolds, has yet to make an appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe following Disney‘s acquisition of 21st Century Fox. While many hoped he would appear in the Doctor Strange sequel, a cameo didn’t materialise.Speaking to ComicBook.com, screenwriter Waldron confirmed Deadpool was considered for a cameo during the writing stage.

After crossing the $200M domestic mark on Monday, Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness on Tuesday zoomed past $500M global. It is also nearing $300M at the international box office, certain to reach that milestone today.

J. Kim Murphy The doctor is in.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” goes to some odd places in the course of its runtime, ping-ponging beyond the MCU to places beyond.But it never stops in a game show universe.Thankfully, we corrected that. We asked the film’s stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong and Xochitl Gomez to play a Strange Quiz – a trivia game where every answer has the word “Strange” in it.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” is finally here, and TheWrap recently sat down with the film’s director and cast (including, of course, the former Sorcerer Supreme himself, Benedict Cumberbatch) to discuss all things “Strange.”Learn how Sam Raimi became involved in the project, whether Benedict Cumberbatch is eager to make more “Doctor Strange” movies and how Rachel McAdams got pulled back into the multiverse. Plus hear from the current Sorcerer Supreme (Benedict Wong) and the MCU’s newest recruit (Xochitl Gomez).

. Benedict Cumberbatch returns as the titular superhero, making his sixth onscreen appearance as the character finds himself a mentor of a younger generation of heroes, first to Spider-Man in and now to America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) in the long-awaited sequel.

WARNING: Major spoilers below for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”Benedict Cumberbatch is back in his wizard cape and costume for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”The sequel to the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s 2016 superhero flick reunites Cumberbatch, 45, with stars Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chiwetel Ejiofor, with Elizabeth Olsen and Xochitl Gomez rounding out the main cast.However, there were many shocking cameos that made fans literally gasp in the movie theater.The film followed Dr. Stephen Strange (Cumberbatch) as he teams up with America Chavez (Gomez) to stop Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Olsen) throughout several universes.About almost halfway through the two-hour Sam Raimi-directed movie, a medley of characters appear in a series of surprising cameos.WARNING: Stop reading to avoid spoilers.There is one point in the story where Dr.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaThis sorcerer still reigns supreme.Disney and Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” earned a formidable $36 million in Thursday previews, setting the stage for what could be a massive $175 million-plus debut this weekend. This ranks as the eighth largest preview performance ever, behind “Avengers: Infinity War’s” $39 million in 2018.

It’s the first week of May, and you know what that means, right? The Marvel Studios machine has pumped out another feature and is ready to take over the world yet again. This time, we get “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and boy, oh boy, The Playlist Podcast has some thoughts.

A very marvel-ous season! Nearly five months since the last Marvel Cinematic Universe flick hit the big screen, this summer will have two highly anticipated sequels coming out: Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder — and that’s just the tipping point for 2022 movie releases.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” a giant movie that has the unenviable task of being a sequel to the original “Doctor Strange” standalone film (released way back in 2016), a follow-up to the enormously successful “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (which heavily featured Strange) and a second season of sorts to “WandaVision,” the inaugural Marvel Studios series for Disney+ that aired more than a year ago.In “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” directed by the one and only Sam Raimi, Strange (once again played by Benedict Cumberbatch) starts to unravel a mystery that could impact not only his world but all of the worlds, leading him to team up with psychically powered orphan Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and MCU newcomer America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), who has the power to open star-shaped portals to other universes.Perhaps the biggest surprise is saved for the end, during the movie’s credits. But if you were befuddled as much as you were dazzled, we’ve got you covered.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” has arrived. In this adventure, which serves as both a sequel to 2016’s “Doctor Strange” and a direct follow-up to both the Disney+ original series “WandaVision” and last year’s blockbuster “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (where Doctor Strange co-starred with Spider-Man). This time around, the good Doctor (once again played by Benedict Cumberbatch) teams up with Wanda aka the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and newcomer America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) on a multiverse-hopping trek.

Marvel movies, practically demands it. And for the moment that means a lot of cameo opportunities.