‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness’ Mints $36M In Thursday Previews

deadline.com:

Disney/Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness racked up $36M from previews that began at 3PM. That’s the 2nd best preview during the pandemic after Spider-Man: No Way Home‘s $50M back in December.

Overall, it’s the eigth largest preview performance ever, ranking behind Avengers: Infinity War‘s $39M in 2018.The Sam Raimi directed movie debuts in 4,534 theaters, making it the 7th widest opening footprint ever.

As is typical with any Marvel movie, the question is how frontloaded Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is. Industry expectations are at least $160M.

Anyway you cut it, that’s the biggest opening for Disney during the pandemic, besting Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings ($75.3M), and for exhibition it’s a great sign that the summer box office is off to a fantastic start.Critics aren’t as wowed by this sequel as they were with the first one, 77% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes to 89% Certified fresh on the 2016 edition.