Q&A: Sam Raimi on 'Doctor Strange' and his superhero return

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.

Sam Raimi would be open to directing a new Spider-Man movie, but only if he could get the old gang back together.

“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.

Manori Ravindran International EditorCapstone Global has boarded action-thriller “Boy Kills World,” starring Bill Skarsgård, Michelle Dockery and Jessica Rothe.The Los Angeles-based production and sales outfit is partnering on the pic with Nthibah Pictures, Hammerstone Studios, Sam Raimi’s Raimi Productions and Roy Lee’s Vertigo Entertainment. Sales will be launched in Cannes, with both Capstone and CAA co-representing U.S.

Angelique Jackson It’d been six years since Rachel McAdams scrubbed into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Dr. Christine Palmer, the will they-or-won’t they love interest of Benedict Cumberbatch’s title hero “Doctor Strange.” But while Cumberbatch went on to join the Avengers in their fight against Thanos in the Infinity Saga, McAdams has been MIA since 2016.In 2021, though, the Oscar-nominee reprised her role as Christine for the heart wrenching Doctor Strange-centric episode of “What If?” on Disney Plus, but that was a voiceover role. McAdams still seemed like a no-go for the live action sequel.

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.

Carson Burton It has been 20 years since Sam Raimi‘s “Spider-Man” changed Hollywood forever, proving that the superhero movie genre offers the opportunity for massive box-office success while also garnering critical appreciation.“The world that they’ve created since ‘Spider-Man,’ which is the last time we have worked on a Marvel film together, look what’s happened! It’s exploded! It’s become this insane universe,” composer Danny Elfman told Variety at Monday night’s premiere for “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” in Los Angeles.“Sam stepped right into this universe with Dr Strange and took it so to the next level,” Elfman continued. “Yet, he brought his own sensibility.

“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.

Xochitl Gomez is one of the youngest stars to officially join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a superhero. The former actress plays America Chavez in, marking the franchise’s first onscreen Latinx queer character. “I mean, it’s just crazy,” Gomez exclaims to  ET’s Matt Cohen.In the action-packed film from writer Michael Waldron and director Sam Raimi, Chavez’s arrival sends Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) on an unexpected journey through the multiverse as he tries to prevent evil forces from capturing the budding hero, who has the power of traveling between dimensions.And thanks to a confident debut, Gomez will quickly become the sequel’s breakout star -- and one that fans can hope to see more of as the MCU continues to introduce diverse, younger avengers to the films and TV series as they slowly expand the representation seen onscreen. “When I was growing up, I didn’t really have too many people to look up to,” Gomez says, revealing that her idols were Selena Gomez and Dora the Explorer.

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.

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.

Clayton Davis The horror genre is one of the most undervalued art forms in the space of critical accolades. However, scramble in the superhero factor, like Marvel’s newest entry, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” from Sam Raimi, and you have a product that will indeed generate discussion and divisive reactions.To get it out of the away nice and early, the anticipated sequel is not a contender to go into the history books like the two previous superhero features that managed to make the cut, “Black Panther” (2018) and “Joker” (2019).