The Benedict Cumberbatch-starrer is on course to become the sixth highest grossing Hollywood film of all time in India after Avengers: Endgame, Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man: No Way Home, The Jungle Book and The Lion King. However, all these films had crossed the Rs. 150 crore mark at the box office while Dr Strange: In The Multiverse Of Madness may have to settle to for around Rs. 125 crore, Box Office India said.
To be sure, on its opening day, Doctor Strange had collected around 15% less than Spider-Man that had released in December though earnings in specific Hindi-speaking circuits may have been higher. Released last December, Spider-Man had made Rs. 32.67 crore at the box office on its first day and finished with lifetime earnings of Rs. 218.41 crore while the first Doctor Strange instalment released in 2016 had started with opening day figures of Rs. 2.63 crore and ended its theatrical run with Rs. 25.2 crore. Clearly, the new film had easily edged past the first instalment.
According to trade experts, Doctor Strange, one of the most popular characters of the much-loved Marvel Cinematic Universe, more so since the release of Avengers: Infinity War and the finale Avengers: Endgame, has an extremely strong screen presence helmed by Benedict Cumberbatch, who also enjoys a strong fan following in India and the second part of the movie franchise has been hugely awaited for a long time now. While the Marvel fan base in India is dominated by the 15–35 age group, there is a 60:40 skew in favour of men.
