Could Doctor Strange be Marvel’s first bomb at the box office?
Probably not, but it is possible as it’s being reported that Doctor Strange is tracking at the low end of $55 million and looks to face some stiff competition in November and December.
If the $55 million holds up, that would put Doctor Strange in line with Ant-Man‘s opening ($57 million), which isn’t a bad number at all for what most of the general audience would consider an obscure character. Ant-Man also finished around $500 million, so Doctor Strange may finish with a similar gross.
Potential obstacles for a blockbuster box office performance from Doctor Strange could be that it faces competition from FOX’s animated Trolls movie as well as the juggernaut that is the Harry Potter franchise with Fantastic Beasts, which opens two weeks following Doctor Strange. Ant-Man did face Mission Impossible and did pretty well, so there is that to keep in mind.
Interestingly enough, Disney has two movies coming out that could potentially hurt Doctor Strange with Moana (November 23rd) and Star Wars: Rogue One (December 16th).
Some DC fans have been glorifying Suicide Squad‘s box office, but you know what? Suicide Squad has had no competition since it opened, which ironically enough may play into the opening weekend success of Doctor Strange as there have been no good movies up at all as of late, and fans are dying for a good flick.
I’ll guess that Doctor Strange will have a pretty decent opening weekend, and if it’s a good movie (we “know” it will get good critic reviews), word of mouth will keep it alive.
Deadline reports Doctor Strange is tracking between $55-75 million.
Something else to keep in mind is that, I believe, Doctor Strange is Marvel Studios first movie minus Ike Perlmutter and his Marvel Comics/TV Creative Committee’s involvement.
“Doctor Strange” has a November 4, 2016 release directed by Scott Derrickson starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton, Benedit Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mads Mikkelsen.
Synopsis:
Marvel’s Doctor Strange follows the story of the talented neurosurgeon Doctor Stephen Strange who, after a tragic car accident, must put ego aside and learn the secrets of a hidden world of mysticism and alternate dimensions. Based in New York City’s Greenwich Village, Doctor Strange must act as an intermediary between the real world and what lies beyond, utilizing a vast array of metaphysical abilities and artifacts to protect the Marvel cinematic universe.
