'Doctor Strange 2' Isn't Projected to Dominate the Box Office - Inside the Magic

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) is definitely the most anticipated MCU movie of the year, but it seems like it won’t dominate the box office like other highly anticipated Marvel projects.

Related: ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Director Has Only Seen Four MCU Movies

A lot of fans have proven that they are looking forward to seeing Benedict Cumberbatch’s Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange explore the Multiverse with new allies. Fans don’t know what to expect from Doctor Strange 2 other than the film promises to deliver big moments for the MCU and there are several reports of major Marvel characters having a cameo or role in the movie.

At first, fans didn’t know if this was true until the official trailer for the movie revealed that Patrick Stewart was reprising his role as Charles Xavier/Professor X for his MCU debut. With the X-Men confirmed to be entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe soon, fans hope that Doctor Strange 2 will include more of the original cast in the movie.

Related: Cult Movie Legend Teases Cameo In ‘Doctor Strange 2’

Some fans are hoping to see Hugh Jackman return as Wolverine as there are reports that the beloved character will have a cameo. Even Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool has been reported to be in the movie, but the actor claims he has nothing to do with Doctor Strange 2. After dealing with Andrew Garfield denying his role in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) fans don’t believe that Reynolds is telling the truth.

Now it seems that the box office projections for Doctor Strange 2 are in as Box Office Pro published their predictions for the movie and it’s not looking the greatest for the movie. Despite promising to be one of the bigger MCU films, the movie is projected to earn $165  to $205 million in its opening weekend.

Overall, the box office analyst predicts the movie will earn $400 to $535 million. This would mean that the movie wouldn’t make it in the top 5 most successful MCU movies despite promising to have huge impacts on the MCU.

MCU Report gives a good look at the top five highest domestic opening weekend box office MCU movies:

Doctor Strange in the #MultiverseOfMadness  is projected to earn between $165M-$205M during its domestic opening weekend. For comparison here’s the top five highest domestic opening in the MCU:

💰 Doctor Strange in the #MultiverseOfMadness  is projected to earn between $165M-$205M during its domestic opening weekend.

For comparison here’s the top five highest domestic opening in the MCU: pic.twitter.com/N8v1aUa8Dr

— MCU Report (@MCUReport) April 8, 2022

 

If the movie did manage to earn $205 million in the opening weekend, that would mean that it would barely beat Black Panther (2018) and be close to passing The Avengers (2012). While this would be impressive, the movie isn’t expected to make as much compared to the other movies in the long run like No Way Home as the movie is projected to earn no more than $535 million.

Here is a list of the top 5 highest-grossing MCU films just in case you don’t know how Doctor Strange 2 compares:

1. Avengers: Endgame – $858M
2. Spider-Man: No Way Home – $803M
3. Black Panther – $700M
4. Avengers: Infinity War – $679M
5. The Avengers – $623M

With the number of cameos and amazing moments rumored to be in the movie, it would seem likely that fans would want to return to watch more times to relive those moments. No Way Home benefitted from fans going back to see the movie and Charlie Cox’s Daredevil, Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man, and of course the iconic Spider-Man villains from the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy.

Related: Oscar Isaac Has Another Secret MCU Role

If Doctor Strange 2 isn’t expected to have a lot of fans return to see it again, this would be concerning for fans as the movie recently cut 22 minutes of screentime and now the movie will be 2 hours and 6 minutes. Since Doctor Strange 2 is focusing on exploring the Multiverse, it made sense for the movie to be longer, but Marvel must have changed their mind. This doesn’t mean that the movie will be terrible, but it could disappoint fans who were really looking forward to seeing certain characters in the movie.

Another factor for the box office would be the competition the movie has with other films. When the movie comes out next month, the only big feature in the competition would be Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022) which will be in its fourth week of showings and the next major movie would be Top Gun: Maverick (2022) a few weeks later.

Related: Marvel Leak Reveals True Villain of ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’

This means that Doctor Strange 2 won’t have any real competition so it’s odd that the movie is projected to earn less than the first Avengers. While Strange might not be as popular as Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, he has become very popular over the last few years and Kevin Feige has even called the character to be the “anchor of the MCU” so it’s not like the movie is about an obscure character. Even Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff has become a fan-favorite character after her series, WandaVision allowed fans to see a lot more about who the character is.

With this in mind, it’s a no-brainer that the movie should dominate the box office, but it’s possible that the projections were being safe and not trying to claim that the sequel will be a game-changer for the MCU even though fans believe it will be.

More on Doctor Strange 2

Related: Director Confesses That Kevin Feige “Doesn’t Have A Plan” For the MCU

Doctor Strange 2 is directed by Sam Raimi and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange in the main timeline, but he will also play other variants in the movie such as Zombie Strange, Defender Strange, and Strange Supreme.

The movie will also star Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), Wong as the Sorcerer Supreme (Benedict Wong), Mordo, (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Rintrah (Adam Hugill), Charles Xavier/Professor X (Sir Patrick Stewart), and potentially other characters from the Marvel universe.

Do you think Doctor Strange 2 will do well at the box office? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

Related: Marvel Announces They Are Rewriting Thor’s Origin Story

Phase Four has started off with a lot of content for Marvel fans to look forward to in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. On Disney+  you can expect more episodes of  Moon Knight on March 30, Ms. Marvel on June 8, and She-Hulk to debut this year. For movies, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness comes out on May 6, followed by Thor: Love and Thunder on July 8, and of course, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever on November 11.