Doctor Strange won't debut in the US until the 4th of November, but the latest Marvel offering has already managed to break some box office records in the international market. So it’s more than certain that this will be the first installment in a new trilogy, with Stephen Strange being the best bet to replace Tony Stark as the face of the shared universe.
According to Deadline, Doctor Strange has already attracted $86 million worth of viewers in 33 international markets. The biggest debut was in South Korea, where the Benedict Cumberbatch movie managed to pull in $18.1 million. That’s more than the lifetime gross of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Guardians of the Galaxy in the same country!
Deadline reports that Doctor Strange has surpassed the international opening weekends of Ant-Man (49%), Guardians of the Galaxy (37%), and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (23%). All of these movies were huge box office successes, with the first James Gunn movie in the MCU earning $773 million worldwide.
Also to be noted, Doctor Strange scored the biggest October IMAX opening, with $7.8 million. And this is understandable, given the highly praised visuals and effects in the film.
The movie hasn't opened just yet in China, which has become in recent years one of the biggest markets for Hollywood movies. Given the love the Chinese audience shows for fantasy movies (Warcraft is the best example of this), Strange is certainly going to make big business there, as well.
As said, Doctor Strange will arrive in the US on the 4th of November. But, while its success at the international box office will certainly ease the burden, Marvel has to make a hit out of the film here, as well, since it also sets up the sequel and, more importantly, Thor: Ragnarok (without mentioning the fact that the Sorcerer Supreme will become the most important character in the MCU).
