[Box Office] Weekend Audience Triples, 'Doctor Strange 2' Reaches 3.49 Million Viewers

Weekend 1.71 Million · 87% Audience Share No. 1

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Isul] The Marvel movie "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" (hereafter Doctor Strange 2) attracted 1.71 million viewers to theaters during its opening weekend.

According to the Korea Film Council's integrated box office system on the 9th, "Doctor Strange 2" (directed by Sam Raimi) was screened 39,234 times across 2,651 theaters over the three days from the 6th to the 8th, drawing 1,716,489 viewers and securing the number one spot at the box office. Since its release on the 4th, the cumulative audience has reached 3,495,714.

"Doctor Strange 2" is a supernatural thriller blockbuster that depicts the Marvel Cinematic Universe's (MCU) first-ever endlessly unfolding dimensional rift and tangled space-time within a multiverse of madness beyond all imagination. It is the second solo movie of Doctor Strange, opening Phase 4.

The film has gained popularity by recording the highest domestic opening score since the pandemic and reaching 3 million viewers in the shortest period. In North America, it ranked 11th all-time for opening weekend and achieved an opening score of $185 million (approximately 2.35 trillion KRW).

The second place was taken by the animated film "Bad Guys," which was released on the same day. It attracted 110,317 viewers during this period, with a cumulative audience of 256,344.

The animated film "Detective Butt: Secret of Souffle Island," watched by 53,020 viewers, ranked third, while "I Want to See Your Parents' Faces" (directed by Kim Ji-hoon), starring Seol Kyung-gu and Moon So-ri, drew 42,787 viewers and held fourth place.

"Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" ranked fifth, the horror omnibus "Seoul Ghost Story" sixth, and "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" seventh.

The number of moviegoers over the weekend reached 2,004,520, which is 3.5 times higher than last week's 589,609. Following the Children's Day holiday on the 5th, the release of the new Marvel film is believed to have drawn audiences to theaters. Additionally, the allowance of eating inside theaters and the lifting of social distancing measures seem to have lowered the threshold for visiting cinemas. In response, the three major theater chains actively held events to attract audiences.

Whether the increased audience reflects the revitalization of theaters in the endemic phase or the effect of the Hollywood Marvel anticipated release remains to be seen.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.