‘Doctor Strange 2’ Set to Kick Off Summer Box Office With Best Opening of 2022

Here’s another signpost on the film industry’s road back to normal: The summer blockbuster season is back to kicking off with a huge Marvel movie on the first weekend of May with “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” And just like the last film to feature Doctor Strange, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” this MCU entry arrives with the sky-high expectations one would expect from a pre-pandemic blockbuster.

Projections currently have “Doctor Strange 2” earning a weekend of at least 160 million, with some analysts and rival distributors expecting a figure closer to 200 million.

Disney, as usual, is dampening expectations, projecting that the film will top the 134 million launch of “The Batman” to become the top opening of 2022 and the second highest since theaters reopened behind “No Way Home.” Such expectations are a far cry from the comparatively modest 85 million opening that the first “Doctor Strange” earned back in November 2016.

Naturally,

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