On Friday, Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had a spectacular opening day in India, grossing Rs. 33.50 crores ($4.40 million). After three other Marvel films, Endgame, Infinity War, and No Way Home, this is Hollywood’s fourth-highest opening in India. Multiverse of Madness came close to breaking the lifetime box office record set by Doctor Strange, which opened to Rs. 3.51 crores and went on to make Rs. 35 crores in November 2016. Doctor Strange isn’t as well-known as Spider-Man or other traditional superheroes, but his popularity skyrocketed after his presence in the Avengers films.

The film’s box office will take a slight dip today after a strong start, but it should rebound on Sunday, with a similar pattern to the past three Marvel mega-openers. The film is expected to gross Rs. 95 crores in its first weekend, with a potential of exceeding Rs. 100 crores. With their massive pre-sales, these films’ weekend revenue is already guaranteed, and it will be Monday that determines where the complete run will go.

The following are the top ten opening days for Hollywood in India:

  • Avengers: Endgame – Rs. 64.50 crores
  • Avengers: Infinity War – Rs. 40.50 crores
  • Spider-Man: No Way Home – Rs. 39.40 crores
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness – Rs. 33.50 crores Approx.
  • Furious 7 – Rs. 16.75 crores
  • Captain Marvel – Rs. 15.60 crores
  • Avengers: Age of Ultron – Rs. 14.75 cores
  • The Jungle Book – Rs. 14 crores
  • Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw – Rs. 13.40 crores
  • The Lion King – Rs. 13.25 crores

Marvel dominates the top openers list. In recent outings, Marvel movie openings in India have nearly doubled from what they were doing before Endgame. Prior to Endgame, Marvel standalone films with high anticipation like Civil War, Captain Marvel, and others were grossing between Rs. 10-15 crores and are currently grossing above Rs. 30 crores. The top of the list is fairly unbalanced, with four large openers, but the fifth is only half of fourth. That shall change a bit by the end of the year as there will be at least two movies (Avatar 2 & Thor: Love and Thunder) joining the Rs. 30 crores plus opener club and quite possibly one or two Rs. 20 crores opener among  Jurassic World: Dominion and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.