'Doctor Strange in Multiverse of Madness' continues box office domination

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness continued its domination in North American theaters this weekend, earning an estimated $31.6 million, while the latest Downton Abbey came in a stately second, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said Sunday.

Marvel and Disney's Strange, again starring the versatile Benedict Cumberbatch, has been a Covid-era star since its release three weekends ago. It has now earned $342 million domestically and $461 million abroad for a global total of $803 million.

Downton Abbey: A New Era from Focus Features took in a solid $16 million. Perhaps not surprising given the huge popularity of the British TV series that inspired it, but nonetheless a sign that older moviegoers - the most reluctant to return to pandemic-era theaters - are beginning to do so.

"This is a very good opening," said David A Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research, who noted that nearly half of ticket buyers were aged 55 or older. 

Writer-director Julian Fellowes, Gross said, "is the George Lucas of period English sitting-room drama." 

Most of the original Downton cast - led by Maggie Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Elizabeth McGovern and Michelle Dockery - appear in the sequel, which critics have called an "affectionate group hug."

In third place for the Friday-through-Sunday period was Universal's animated action-comedy The Bad Guys. The DreamWorks Animation production, with a voice cast led by Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina and Anthony Ramos, took in $6.1 million. Paramount's family-friendly Sonic the Hedgehog 2 slipped one spot from last weekend to fourth, at $3.9 million.

In fifth was A24's new horror film "Men," at $3.3 million. Directed by Alex Garland, who made Ex Machina and starring Jessie Buckley, it drew a rare low D+ grade from the CinemaScore site.

Meanwhile, a pro-Donald Trump film, 2000 Mules, earned $765,000 to claim the 11th spot.

The movie from conservative Dinesh D'Souza - who in 2018 received a pardon from Trump for a felony conviction of making illegal campaign contributions - falsely claims to offer "smoking gun" evidence of massive voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

Everything Everywhere All at Once ($3.1 million)

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore ($1.9 million)

Firestarter ($1.9 million)

The Lost City ($1.5 million)

The Northman ($1 million)

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