‘Doctor Strange’ rules again at box office

Doctor Strange’ rules again at box office

At the box office, the Crawley family still has the royal touch. In its home opening, “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” a sequel to the beloved British television show’s big-screen continuation, grossed $16 million from 3,815 North American screens. Though slightly lower than earlier projections, those figures represent a promising start at a time when older viewers are becoming more picky about going to the movies.

Long-time fans of the series had become tired of seeing the onscreen royal intrigue and class-system strife, so there was legitimate trepidation regarding the second “Downton Abbey” in terms of commercial prospects. Despite good reviews, many pandemic-era films aimed for adults (such as Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” adaptation” and Will Smith’s sports drama “King Richard”) struggled to sell tickets. So it’s no surprise that over half of the ticket buyers for “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” a feel-good movie set in a well-known brand, were 55 or older.

Those ticket sales put “Downton Abbey” in second place, but not enough to knock Disney’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” off the top spot. Between Friday and Sunday, the latest Marvel film, which has dominated box office records for three weeks in a row, earned another $31.6 million from 4,534 screens. “Doctor Strange” has grossed $342 million in North America and $461 million abroad, bringing the total box office to over $800 million. If “Doctor Strange” maintains its momentum, it might become only the second film in COVID history to gross $1 billion at the box office, following “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” ” Since the “Strange” sequel (like “No Way Home”) isn’t playing in China or Russia to due geopolitical tensions, it’s been harder for tentpoles to reach the coveted billion-dollar mark.

“Downton Abbey: A New Era” has grossed $35 million internationally, bringing its total to $51.7 million worldwide.

Julian Fellowes, the creator of “Downton Abbey,” returned to write the sequel, which was directed by Simon Curtis. The first “Downton Abbey” film was a surprise box office success in 2019, making $31 million in the United States and $192 million worldwide.

The rich Crawley family travels to the South of France to solve a mystery surrounding the dowager countess’ (played by Maggie Smith) newly inherited property in the highly acclaimed sequel. Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern, Michelle Dockery, Jim Carter, Joanne Froggatt, and Brendan Coyle round out the cast. Variety’s Peter Debruge described the picture as a “affectionate group embrace,” which is exactly the kind of escapism that fans of “Downton Abbey” need.

Fellowes has been dubbed “the George Lucas of historical English sitting-room drama” by David A. Gross, who leads the movie consultancy firm Franchise Entertainment Research.

“This is a fantastic start. As with the first film, the reviews are wonderful “Gross explained. “‘Downton Abbey’ is a unique and accomplished series.” .. Reuters

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