The latest movie to come out of the stables of Marvel Studios, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, has scored a massive Rs 28 crore opening as per Bollywood Hungama. In a departure from most Hollywood movies, advance bookings for the film had begun last month, a good 20-odd days before the release.
The amount is a little less than what last year’s Spider-Man: No Way Home managed. That had opened with Rs 32.67 crore.
Doctor Strange 2’s box office performance continues the trend of MCU movies earning big bucks in India. Directed by Sam Raimi, the film brings back Benedict Cumberbatch in the titular role and Elizabeth Olsen also reprises the role of Wanda after the TV series WandaVision.
The movie, like No Way Home, deals with the multiverse and has Strange facing a threat that has put the entire multiverse in jeopardy.
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Benedict Wong, Xochitl Gomez, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Rachel McAdams also star. Doctor Strange 2 has made $85 million internationally and debuted with $36 million from Thursday previews in the US.
Recently, Cumberbatch had spoken about his thoughts on fan theories about the movie in an interview with Indianexpress.com. He said, “I try not to react or go to the internet but I, in person have had some very pleasant times with an amazing amount of very enthusiastic people at various gatherings.”
The Indian Express film critic Shalini Langer gave the film a mixed review. She wrote, “Even in all those many universes though – in one sequence, Strange and America fly down a dizzying variety of them – the magic belongs to actual verses, captured in two books. One is the bad book (Darkhold), the other the book of ultimate good (Vishanti). Needless to say, a lot depends on who is holding it at what time.”
