“Doctor Strange” Conjures Impressive Opening

Doctor Strange bent space and time to deliver an impressive $85 million debut. That's the best character intro in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since Iron Man kicked everything off eight years ago. November has been big for franchise sequels, though this is the best character debut of any franchise in this month since Harry Potter started back in 2001. It's also more proof that no matter what character Marvel trots out, audiences will turn out in droves.

Even though no one has bought a troll doll in decades, kids and their parents turned out for Trolls, which got surprisingly good reviews. The animated musical debuted right around where The Peanuts Movie did last year. So expect a final return of more than $125 million, with it petering out around Thanksgiving. But you'll probably have Justin Timberlake's "Can't Stop the Feeling" stuck in your head for much longer.

Way back in third place, Hacksaw Ridge took in around $14.7 million. That's not huge for a big, expensive war movie, but pretty good considering the competition. That's also a little below what Apocalypto debuted with a decade ago, though I'd be shocked if this one even comes close to $50 million. Boo! and Inferno rounded out the top five.

Outside the top 5:

• This Weekend's Indie Champ: Loving, the drama about the fierce, determined couple whose romance led to the Supreme Court decision that made interracial marriage legal throughout the U.S. Playing on only four screens, the acclaimed drama averaged $42,250 on each one.
• Moonlight continued its tremendous run. Expanding to 83 screens, the fantastic coming-of-age drama made $1.3 million in its third week, which is more than Keeping Up with the Joneses did. That film's playing on nearly a thousand more screens and has been out the same amount of time.
• And even documentaries are debuting impressively. The Eagle Huntress, about nomadic tribes in Kazakhstan averaged $13,462 on four screens.

Next week: Arrival takes on Almost Christmas, with Shut In making a play as well. Arrival has the acclaim – including rave reviews at film festivals around the world – and the intrigue – a trailer that's given just enough information without giving away its twists. I'd say it could debut as high as $40 million, but that won't be enough to dethrone Doctor Strange. Almost Christmas could get $15 million, but Shut In will need a lot of luck to get more than $10 million.