According to industry analyst Exhibitor Relations, Marvel and Disney’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” box office dipped drastically this weekend following its blockbuster debut. However, it still topped North America with $61 million in expected ticket sales.
The superhero sequel, which once again starred Benedict Cumberbatch, scored the year’s highest opening weekend of $187 million. It has already made $292 million in the United States and $396 million in other countries, for $688 million.
Paramount’s family-friendly “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” came in third with $4.6 million for the second weekend in a row.
“Firestarter,” a new Universal thriller based on Stephen King’s horror novel, grossed $3.8 million in its first weekend, a disappointing start for a major studio thriller.
It stars Zac Efron (from “High School Musical”) and Sydney Lemmon (from “Fear the Walking Dead”) as parents trying to keep their daughter Ryan Kiera Armstrong secret from a sinister federal agency that wants to exploit her, uh, unusual ability to kindle fires with her thoughts.
The film had a 12 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, which was in sharp contrast to the fifth-place finisher, A24’s sci-fi thriller “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once,” which received a 96 percent rating and made $3.3 million in its ninth weekend out.
The following films completed the top ten:
“Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets” (2.4 million dollars)
“The Lost City” ($1.7 million)
($1.7 million) “The Northman”
($1.4 million) “Family Camp”
“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” (1.1 million dollars) (AFP)
