Disney-Marvel’s upcoming comic book adaptation “Doctor Strange” should open somewhere between $60 million and $75 million, according to early tracking obtained by TheWrap.
Among Marvel movie openings, those figures would put the title somewhere between 19th and 24th place for highest-grossing of all time. “Doctor Strange” will likely come in ahead of Sony’s “The Amazing Spider-Man,” which debuted to $62 million in 2012.
The Benedict Cumberbatch movie could come in ahead of Paramount’s “Thor,” which grossed $65.7 million during its opening weekend in 2011.
If “Doctor Strange” opens on the high end of those estimates, it will come out ahead of Fox’s “X-Men: Apocalypse,” which was out earlier this year and debuted to $65.7 million.
That’s a strong achievement for an original film — especially one based on a relatively unfamiliar comic-book property not previously seen on the big screen.
Among Hollywood studios, Disney currently has the largest market share of box office grosses this year with $2.15 billion, or 24.5 percent. Warner Bros. is a distant second with $1.53 billion or 17.4 percent.
With tentpole films “Doctor Strange,” Disney’s animated “Moana” and also Lucasfilm’s “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” set to come out, Disney could end the year with an even higher percentage of the pie. But Warners still has a potential monster hit in its back pocket with the adaptation of J.K. Rowling‘s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
“Doctor Strange” follows the story of talented neurosurgeon Dr. 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, 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.
The movie stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Michael Stuhlbarg, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton, Benedict Wong, Amy Landecker and Scott Adkins.
“Doctor Strange” opens in theaters on Nov. 4.