Into the Multiverse of Movie Madness

Doctor Strange ​​In The Multiverse Of Madness earned ~$450 million worldwide at the box office this past weekend, the second-biggest opening of the pandemic era behind Spider-Man: No Way Home ($601 million).

🔮 A deeper dive…

• Premium formats accounted for 36% of ticket sales. DS2’s global haul for IMAX tickets alone was $33 million, a May record. (Context: the film was shot using IMAX digital cameras.)
• Another potential draw: The new 3D trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water is exclusively available in theaters before Multiverse; it’s not yet officially online.

☝️🤔 One interesting thing: The estimated domestic audience demographics were 62% male and 16% under age 18.

📸 Big picture: Box office gross revenues are still down 45% compared to 2019. But Doctor Strange 2 is playing in 4,545 theaters, the widest location count of the pandemic era and the fifth-biggest of all time, a sign that the movie business is emerging from the pandemic, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

• While overall attendance is still down compared to “normal” times, moviegoer confidence is at or near all-time highs.

🍿 It’s about to be a hot girl blockbuster summer… All debuting before the end of July: Top Gun: Maverick, Jurassic World: Dominion, Lightyear, Minions: The Rise of Gru, and Thor: Love and Thunder.