UPDATE (11/6; 7:03PM): Marvel’s Doctor Strange exceeded expectations during its opening weekend at the box office, taking in an estimated $84.9 million. Giving the fall box office a much needed boost following a few weeks of fairly middling openings, Doctor Strange overtook early estimates, which saw the film opening somewhere in the $70 million range. The opening still marks a stronger debut than previous standalone-starter entries like Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor and last year’s Ant-Man; the debut is also just short of Thor: The Dark World‘s opening of $85.7 in the fall of 2013.
EARLIER: Box office receipts will get a nice shot in the arm this weekend with the opening of Marvel’s highly anticipated latest feature Doctor Strange. The news will be be most welcome after fairly sluggish fall frame so far. The superhero title, which stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular comic book favorite, is looking to soar to an estimated $75 million once the dust has settled. While this number doesn’t exceed the top chambers of the Marvel canon, it’s a great start for a start-off in the MCU – and ahead of Ant-Man ($57 million), Thor ($65 million) and Captain America: The First Avenger ($65 million).
Doctor Strange kicked off nicely with an estimated $9.4 million take on Thursday evening preview performances (that take will be included in its Friday gross). That number is the seventh strongest Thursday night take for a Marvel feature, by most estimates the film will be near or perhaps even slightly above $30 million as Friday closes. Cutting into Doctor Strange‘s overall potential may be the Fox animated feature Trolls, which is projected to earn about $40 million over the same frame. Still, without question the Marvel title will achieve the strongest opening weekend since Suicide Squad opened to $133 million this past August.
Cumberbatch stars in the Scott Derrickson-directed film, which also features the estimable ensemble cast that includes Tilda Swinton (A Bigger Splash), Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), Mads Mikkleson (Hannibal) and Benedict Wong. This origin story follows a gifted surgeon who, after surviving a devastating car crash, turns to the mystical, becoming a powerful sorcerer in his own right.
Tracking for the film has ranged in recent weeks for a opening somewhere in the $70 million range, with the high end leaving the potential it could wrangle upwards into the $80 million range. Let’s see how high it can soar.
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