It was a great opening weekend for the latest Marvel blockbuster, "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” as it debuted at numero uno at the domestic box office this weekend. For those of you who've watched it so far, you've contributed to it grossing $450m globally.
The strong opening is quite significant for Disney (DIS), which owns the Marvel movie franchise, as the pandemic made it difficult for the company to cover the costs of blockbuster production.
The $200m sequel overtook DreamWorks Animation's The Bad Guys for first place and also earned the second greatest opening for a Hollywood film during the pandemic era. The film outperforms director Sam Raimi's previous best opening, Spider-Man 3, which brought in $151m.
Why it matters
Things are not all rosy for Disney as its shares are now under pressure, being down 2.1%. At a company level, its amusement parks and cruise sectors are also struggling, leaving its TV and streaming operations as its principal revenue generator. Even there, though, investors are anticipating a downturn in its streaming business, following Netflix’s (NFLX), ahead of the company’s quarterly earnings report scheduled to be released later today.
