Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness scores a bigger opening weekend than all three of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films. Raimi makes his grand return to the director's chair after a nine-year absence with the recent release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, the highly anticipated new entry in the MCU. The film sees Raimi return to the superhero genre after his work on the Spider-Man trilogy from 2002 to 2007.
Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy was one of the biggest blockbuster franchises at the start of the 21st century, as the first Spider-Man back in 2002 was the first movie to make over $100 million in its opening weekend. In fact, all three movies broke records with their openings, with 2007's Spider-Man 3 notching what was the best opening weekend at the time. Flashing forward to today, Doctor Strange 2 made a big splash in its first weekend, with early estimates having the film at a $185 million opening weekend domestically. It also received the fourth-best worldwide opening for an MCU film with $450 million.
With the official numbers in, Deadline is reporting that Raimi’s latest film actually came in over the initial estimates to gross $187 million, making it the best opening weekend in the director's career. This tops the opening weekend gross for Spider-Man ($114 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($151 million). Both films, like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, opened on the first weekend in May. Spider-Man 2 opened on a Wednesday before the Fourth of July weekend, so its three-day gross was $88. However, its five-day gross for the holiday was $180, close to the earnings of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
It should be noted that adjusted for inflation, Spider-Man 3's opening weekend would be $201 million, while Spider-Man would be $181 million, signifying just how big those movies were at the time of their release. It is an indicator of just how successful the MCU is that a sequel to 2016's Doctor Strange could see an increase of over $100 million dollars from the previous film in just its opening weekend. Due to the character popping up in highly successful movies like Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange has now become more well known to general audiences.
While Doctor Strange 2 opened bigger than Raimi's Spider-Man movies, all eyes will now fall on if it can surpass them at the box office. Worldwide, Spider-Man grossed $821 million, and Spider-Man 2 brought in $788 million while Spider-Man 3 grossed $894 million. Plus, this was all back before 2010 and the higher ticket prices of 3D or IMAX screenings. While Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has already grossed $450 million worldwide, the movie could see a massive drop off in the coming weeks due to the film's B+ CinemaScore, indicating audiences' enthusiasm may not be interested in repeat viewings the same way they were with the Spider-Man movies.
Source: Deadline
