‘Morbius’ Flops Again But ‘Doctor Strange 2’ Tops $900 Million

In holdover weekend box office news not related to Top Gun: Maverick ($86 million domestic for a $292 million domestic/$548 million global cume), Walt Disney and Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness crossed $900 million worldwide. The Benedict Cumberbatch/Elizabeth Olsen MCU sequel earned another $9.3 million (-42%) in its fifth weekend of domestic release and $11.4 million overseas. It has now earned $388.7 million domestic and $520.7 million outside of North America for a whopping $909.4 million global cume. No, it won’t crack $1 billion, but that’s just about not getting that pre-Covid $100-$150 million from China (and revenue lost in Russia and Ukraine). However, considering it’s “just” a Doctor Strange sequel, this is a towering performance and a reaffirmation of the MCU brand.

20th Century Studios’ Bob’s Burgers: The Movie earned $4.45 million (-64%) in its second weekend for a $22.2 million ten-day domestic (and $23.9 million worldwide) total. The fans and casually curious who wanted to see this animated musical in theaters did so over Memorial Day weekend. It should finish just over/under $30 million domestic. DreamWorks Animation’s The Bad Guys grossed another $3.34 million (-24%) in weekend seven for an $87.3 million domestic cume from a $23.5 million debut weekend. Once again, DWA toons are incredibly leggy in almost every circumstance. The $80 million toon has earned $218 million worldwide, including $39 million in China. Downton Abbey: A New Era earned $3 million (-48%) in weekend three for a $35.7 million domestic and $77.1 million worldwide cume.

A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once continued to play like the indie version of The Greatest Showman, earning another $2.02 million (-18%) in weekend 11 to pass the $60 million mark domestically. With (at least) $77 million worldwide, it’s currently right below Lady Bird ($71 million) and Hereditary ($81 million) as A24’s third-biggest global grosser. Paramount’s other 2022 smash, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, will earn $1.725 million (-30%) despite being released into post-theatrical (EST) and streaming (on Paramount+) over the last week. It’ll have $188.2 million domestic and possibly over/under $400 million worldwide (on a $110 million budget) by tomorrow night. Paramount’s The Lost City will earn $1.38 million (-34%) in weekend 11 (even as it too is available at home) for a $104 million domestic cume.

Sony brought Morbius back into 1,037 theaters this weekend, either due to a misunderstanding of how Internet memes work or (more likely) just playing along to give theaters something “new” on a dead weekend and keep Jared Leto’s anti-hero in the news cycle. To the surprise of no one who didn’t see Snakes on a Plane in theaters or watch Zack Snyder’s Justice League on HBO Max, the online shenanigans translated to $300,000 or $289 per theater. Critics hated it and audiences did too, as shown by the C+ Cinemascore and 1.88x weekend ($39 million)-to-final ($73.6 million) multiplier. Letting folks continue to make fun increases his “value” when Dr. Michael Morbius shows up in Venom 3 and Tom Hardy’s Eddie Brock calls him a “f***ing loser” to audience applause.