Debuting at #1, as what many expected, was Marvel's 14th movie in their expanding Cinematic Universe, Doctor Strange. The superhero flick outperformed expectations, however, with a stunning $85.1 million from 3,882 locations (strong $21,911 per-venue average). For the MCU, that ranks just behind Guardians of the Galaxy ($93 million) for the second-largest opening for a superhero origin story in the MCU. It also opened in line with Thor: The Dark World ($86 million). Overall, just another successful debut in what has been a record-shattering year for distributor Disney (with Moana and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story still to come). With strong reviews (90% on Rotten Tomatoes) and an "A" CinemaScore, audiences found plenty of reasons to come out. This could play well over the coming weeks if Fantastic Beasts doesn't have anything to say about it in two weeks. The budget was $165 million and Disney and Marvel were projecting a $70 million start.
Overseas, where Strange rolled out in some markets last week, the numbers couldn't be any more promising. The Scott Derrickson flick pulled in another $120 million overseas this weekend, for a huge $330 million worldwide gross in just two weeks. In addition to that, China got off to a massive $44 million start. With most markets open, Strange looks set to finish anywhere between $600 and $800 million worldwide.
Meanwhile, DreamWorks Animation got good news as their latest effort, Trolls, opened to very good results in second place. Outperforming expectations that projected a high-30's millions debut, the musical comedy pulled in $46.6 million, for a very good $11,473. Trolls managed to pull in slightly bigger crowds than last year's The Peanuts Movie ($44 million) and earlier this year's Kung Fu Panda 3 ($41 million), and matched the openings of Madagascar ($47.2 million) and MegaMind ($46 million). Basically, this is now par for the course for DWA, which was recently acquired by Universal and normally opens a movie between $40 and $50 million. In the end, the reason why this struck a chord was that there hasn't been any real success stories for family audiences since The Secret Life of Pets. With solid reviews (73% on Rotten Tomatoes) and an "A" CinemaScore, the colorful film will play right into Thanksgiving (Moana will be strong competition though). DWA produced the film for $125 million, and were projecting a $35-38 million start.
Overseas, Trolls is also off to a good start after rolling out a week or two ago. The musical film has picked up $105 million overseas so far, with the worldwide total over $150 million in two weeks. More countries have yet to roll out, but I would not be surprised if the worldwide gross winds up at least around $350 million, if not $400 million. This would easily be enough to go into the black.
I saw Doctor Strange and Trolls over the last few days. I will have reviews up for both in the next couple days.
Meanwhile, for older adults, another movie connected with audiences, and that was Mel Gibson's first directorial movie in 11 years, war drama Hacksaw Ridge. The critically-adored possible awards season contender pulled in $15.2 million, for a decent $5,264 per-venue average. That was ahead of expectations, which had projected a $12 million debut. But the war movie was different enough (and a 10-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival certainly helped) in the marketplace that it managed to get a solid audience of its own. Gibson also attempted to play to faith-based audiences with a Christian lead character and editing out some offensive content. That strategy apparently worked in its favor too. The Lionsgate release earned fantastic reviews (89% on Rotten Tomatoes) and an "A" CinemaScore, which could point to strong holds in the weeks ahead. The budget was $40 million.With the three strong openers, there wasn't a lot of attention left for the Fall holdovers, though most of them held reasonably well. After topping the last two weeks, Boo! A Madea Halloween was down 55% to $7.7 million, for a still very strong $64.9 million in 17 days. Considering Halloween has passed and Tyler Perry films tend to drop 60% or more, that drop wasn't as bad as it could have been. Within the next week, Perry's latest cross-dressing shenanigan will become his second-biggest film ever behind Madea Goes to Jail ($90 million).
Faring far worse was Inferno, which fell 59% to $6.2 million. The Ron Howard and Tom Hanks disappointment has picked up just $26 million in 10 days, and looks likely to finish only just above $40 million in the U.S., not even in line with Angels and Demons' $46.2 million opening weekend. Inferno will be saved by overseas numbers, though, with the worldwide gross approaching $200 million.
Having the strongest hold of the list was The Accountant, which continued to play well in its fourth weekend. The Ben Affleck film was off just 31% to $5.9 million, for a very good $70.8 million pick up in 24 days. If it continues to play well, it may hit $90 million. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back followed with a 43% decline to $5.5 million. Tom Cruise's action sequel is continuing to pass along at a forgettable pace, with just $49.1 million in 17 days. Reacher should wind up around $65 million stateside, and probably around $200 million worldwide based on its pace.
Even with Halloween passing, Ouija: Origin of Evil had a good hold for its genre, off 46% to $3.9 million, for a decent $31.3 million gross in 17 days. The final gross should come close to $40 million, retaining around 75% of the first Ouija's $50 million debut. The Girl on the Train was off 39% to $2.7 million, for a solid $70.6 million gross in one month of release. Rounding out the Top 10 was Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, as the Tim Burton fantasy was down 50% in the face of competition to $2 million. In six weeks of release, the book adaptation has earned $83.3 million, and over $250 million worldwide (China and Japan could get it to around $350 million when they release later).
And that's it for this weekend. Next week, three more moderate releases enter the fray, with Amy Adams' sci-fi awards season contender Arrival leading the charge. Also opening is holiday season comedy Almost Christmas and horror flick Shut-In. Meanwhile, with Strange and Trolls likely to remain in the top two spots, it's sure to be another strong weekend. As always, we'll see.
