Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness has collected Rs 27-28 crore (nett) on its first day at the Indian box office, according to Box Office India. This is the fourth best opening for a Hollywood film in the country, after Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Avengers: Infinity War.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness released on Friday. It is the sequel to the 2016 film Doctor Strange, which was headlined by actor Benedict Cumberbatch alongside Tilda Swinton, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Mads Mikkelsen.
Cumberbatch reprises his role as Doctor Strange in the sequel that also features actor Elizabeth Olsen, who is renowned for playing Scarlet Witch aka Wanda Maximoff in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ejiofor, Wong, McAdams, and Stuhlbarg are all part of the new film as well.
The story follows what happens after Dr Stephen Strange casts a forbidden spell that opens the doorway to the multiverse, including alternate versions of himself. The film also introduces the character America Chavez, played by Xochitl Gomez, who is gay as per the comics.
Multiverse of Madness is directed by Sam Raimi, who is renowned for helming the first-ever Spider-Man trilogy headlined by Tobey Maguire.
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It is to be noted that Multiverse of Madness has already crossed the total collections of Doctor Strange in India. The latter had opened to earnings of Rs 2.6 crore, and eventually collected Rs 25 crore in India.
The first-day global collections of Multiverse of Madness stand at $85 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
While the film is expected to perform well, considering the Marvel umbrella, it faces some disadvantage from being banned in certain countries. In April, reports suggested that the film had been banned in Saudi Arabia, and possibly also in Kuwait, for featuring LGBTQIA+ references. While there was no confirmation on the offending scenes, they were speculated to be those featuring Gomez’s character.