'Doctor Strange' easily repeats atop domestic box-office chart

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (NYSE:DIS) repeated atop the domestic box-office chart - unsurprising, with little competition this month, though business fell off considerably.

The film grossed $61 million across 4,534 North American theaters in its second weekend, about 67% worse than its dominating opening outing. That's still more than $50 million better than its runners-up: Animated film The Bad Guys (CMCSA) grossed $7 million in its fourth weekend, while Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (PARA) (PARAA) grabbed $4.7 million.

And those were all better than the weekend's strongest debut, Firestarter (CMCSA), a critically panned remake of the 1984 film based on Stephen King's novel. The remake disappointed with just $3.8 million despite rolling out to 3,412 theaters; the original Firestarter did far better with its opening, grossing $4.7 million (in 1984 dollars).

The new version may have taken a hit, though, from a simultaneous release on NBCU's Peacock.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has become something of a solid 2022 hit for Paramount (PARA) (PARAA), with a total domestic take of $175.8 million and $355.3 million worldwide.

The new Doctor Strange has now tallied $292.6 million in cumulative domestic grosses, and $688.8 million worldwide. It's liable to have at least one more weekend to rake it in - Top Gun: Maverick (PARA) (PARAA) is on its way May 27.

Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment (AMC); Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWF); Cinemark (CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (OTCPK:CPXGF); National CineMedia (NCMI).