Weekend Box Office: May 6-8, 2022
by Emily Nagle
The first weekend of May was the most profitable box office one of the whole year so far, thanks to the release of Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”. Altogether, the top 10 highest grossing films for this weekend added up to $220.3 million. For perspective, that’s almost twice the amount earned during the long Easter weekend.
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of May 6-8, 2022
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once ($3.5 million)
4. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore ($4.3 million)
3. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 ($6 million)
2. The Bad Guys ($9.6 million)
1. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($187.4 million)
The long-awaited “Multiverse of Madness” carried movie theaters this weekend, grossing nearly $190 million. Most of this was earned during its opening day on Friday, when it grossed $90.7 million. This interdimensional superhero blockbuster has had the biggest opening weekend all year, as well as the second biggest pandemic-era opening weekend (with first place going to “Spider-Man: No Way Home“). A sequel to “Doctor Strange” (2016), the film follows the eponymous neurosurgeon-turned-sorcerer (Benedict Cumberbatch) as he casts a forbidden spell that unleashes the Multiverse, creating immense danger. Now, it’s up to him, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), and Wong (Benedict Wong) to contain the threat, which has introduced the team to alternate versions of themselves. It’s been praised by critics for its direction and performances.
With “Multiverse of Madness” soaring to number-one at theaters, “The Bad Guys” was demoted to second place for the first time in its 2-week release. Family films like “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” have continued to thrive at the box office several weeks after premiering, creating a diverse list of titles: from speedy blue hedgehogs and animal criminals to wizards and interdimensional thrillers, there’s something for everyone!