Before Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick lands and takes off with expected blockbuster figures, Doctor Strange and his cloak clobbered the box office competition, especially overseas.

Benedict Cumberbatch’s snarky yet charismatic doctor-wizard worked his magic internationally, drawing $396.2 million so far. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness netted $83.5 million in over 40 territories in the latest frame.

Combined with its $291.9 million earnings in North America, the sequel also starring Elisabeth Olsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, and Benedict Wong, has amassed a global tally of $688.1 million.

The Sam Raimi-directed Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, faring well even minus showings in China and Russia, was particularly strong in several markets, led by Korea ($41.4 million), Brazil, France, Japan, Mexico, Indonesia (where it’s the biggest hit in the COVID period), Germany, Australia, India, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

In the United States and Canada, the superhero film also featuring Michael Stuhlbarg and Xochitl Gomez grossed $61 million to stay on top of the box office charts. But pundits pointed out that those numbers were a steep 67 percent drop from the first weekend.

Despite its big earnings decline, the 28^th MCU production is one of the biggest hits of the pandemic era and is the second highest-grossing release this year.

“Audiences crave these big blockbusters on the big screen. This marketplace has given Doctor Strange a pretty long runway to be successful until Top Gun,” Paul Dergarabedian, a veteran box office analyst, told AP.

“There was little in the way of new competition. The only new movie was Universal Pictures and Blumhouse’s adaptation of Stephen King’s Firestarter, which was released in both theaters and on the company’s streaming service, Peacock+.”

Dergarabedian added, “The notion that a theatrical exclusive debut gives movies their best shot at success is right.”

Many box office experts agreed that Firestarter’s day-and-date release contributed to the dismal bow ($3.8 million) of director Keith Thomas’ drama/horror/sci-fi. A remake of the 1984 film version of Stephen King’s novel of the same name, the Jason Blum-produced movie topbills Zac Efron, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and Sydney Lemmon, and placed fourth.

Two animated films with legs, The Bad Guys and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, ranked second and third, respectively. Sam Rockwell and Awkwafina’s The Bad Guys scored $6.9 million while Jim Carrey’s Sonic the Hedgehog 2 picked up $4.5 million.

Still the good news story in these past eight weeks is that the Asian-cast-led indie sci-fi/comedy, Everything Everywhere All at Once, is in the fifth spot with $3.3 million.

The little multiverse film that could, headlined by Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, and Jamie Lee Curtis, and directed by Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (known as the Daniels), has raked in $47.1 million so far.

The critically acclaimed movie is poised to become the highest domestic release of A24, which distributes indie movies.

Rounding out the rest of the top ten were, in order: Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore ($2.4 million); The Lost City ($1.73 million); The Northman ($1.7 million); the new release, Family Camp, a faith-based family-comedy ($1.42 million); and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent $1.05 million).