While the calendar says it’s still technically spring for another month and a half, the summer blockbuster season officially kicked off over Mother’s Day weekend thanks to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’ whopping $185 million domestic bow.
With no new major competition (who in their right minds would even dare to go up against it?), the latest chapter in the hand-over-fist Marvel Cinematic Universe instantly became the biggest box-office debut of 2022, trouncing its cross-town DC rival, The Batman, and its $134 million opening just two months ago.
Pulling in $90 million on Friday alone, it was clear right off the bat that Disney’s eagerly-awaited follow-up to 2016’s Doctor Strange (again starring Benedict Cumberbatch in the title role) was on a record-shattering pace.
By the time the dust had settled and all of the receipts had been counted two days later, director Sam Raimi’s first superhero film since wrapping the original Spider-Man trilogy back in 2007 had become the second-highest grossing film in North America since the pandemic began, bested only by Spider-Man: No Way Home.
