Thanks to the success of Doctor Strange, it seems safe to assume that no Marvel Studios release will ever be a risky proposition. Since they kicked off their shared cinematic universe in 2008 with Iron Man, critics and box office analysts alike have wondered whether each subsequent film would flop. No matter how unknown the property, however, Marvel has always received a sizable return on their investment. Before Doctor Strange made people wonder if it would give Marvel their first bomb, people thought the same thing about Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy. The latter, of course, famously beat expectations grossing over $700 million worldwide and causing studios to take notice of the tone and approach. While Ant-Man didn't achieve the same level of success, it still managed to do fairly well at home and abroad.

Doctor Strange was not only a wonky sell, but became mired in controversy before its release. Still, that couldn't stop the film from making Marvel and Disney a good amount of money when it debuted early last month. The film also proved a hit with critics and Marvel fans, offering a fairly faithful origin for the Sorcerer Supreme and fusing director Scott Derrickson's unique sensibilities with Jack Kirby's iconic comic art.

Thanks to a tweet by Derrickson, we now know that Doctor Strange has done even better than previously expected as it's managed to crack the top 100 highest grossings films of all time.

Doctor Strange has cracked the top 100 highest grossing films ever made. pic.twitter.com/Yh0s3e7fiq— Scott Derrickson (@scottderrickson) December 30, 2016

Currently coming in at #99, the movie joins other worldwide hits from Disney such as Rogue One, which just broke $700 million in its second week, GuardiansCaptain America: Civil War, and a number of other Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars films. Given that the movie is still playing in a number of countries, its total is likely to grow a bit more. This is good news for both Disney, who just became the first studio to earn $7 billion worldwide in a year, and Marvel, who now have six of the highest earners of all time.

All in all, the over $600 million the movie has made is sure to give the studio the confidence to go ahead with a sequel to the film. It will also ensure the company continues to invest in lesser-known characters and continues to let filmmakers experiment with how they present their superhero blockbusters. Like Star Wars, attaching the Marvel name to a movie seems to ensure success. For fans of the films and comics, that's good news, as it leads to the hope that more and more characters will get their chance on the big screen. While there's a lot that's unlikely to happen in Phase 4, Marvel still has some room to introduce a few new exciting heroes, villains, and concepts to their ever-expanding universe.

Source: Scott Derrickson

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