BOX OFFICE: DOCTOR STRANGE Debuts Way Ahead Of ANT-MAN And GOTG In International Opening
Doctor Strange doesn't reach North America until next week, but overseas, the movie is already off to a spellbinding start at the box office debuting way ahead of several other Marvel Studios releases.
Doctor Strange has opened in 33 different markets this week, and as a result, it's already made a magical $86 million overseas. That's way ahead of what most analysts predicted, and most surprisingly, significantly higher than a number of other Marvel Studios movies. For example, it's 49% ahead of Ant-Man, 37% ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy, and 23% ahead of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Deadline actually compared the numbers in the same territories and used today's exchange rates).
All of those went on to be huge hits and quickly received sequels, so things are looking good for Doctor Strange so far. Interestingly, in Korea, the movie's $18.1 million haul means that it's already exceeded the lifetime grosses of Guardians of the Galaxy and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice!
Now IMAX’s all-time biggest October opening internationally, expectations for Doctor Strange next weekend are high. After all, it will open in both North America and China, so we'll have a much better idea of how well the movie is going to perform globally seven days from now. Still, with overwhelmingly positive reviews, it's probably safe to assume that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios have another winner on their hands now that the Sorcerer Supreme has entered the MCU!
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A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.
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