Box Office: 'Doctor Strange' Opens to a Magical $86M Overseas

The superhero movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch began rolling out internationally a week before landing in the U.S. on Nov. 4.

Marvel Studios and Disney's Doctor Strange opened to a magical $86 million overseas over the weekend, topping fellow Marvel titles Ant-Man, Guardians of the Galaxy and even Captain America: Winter Soldier in comparable markets.

Doctor Strange unfurled in its first 33 territories — or 45 percent of the marketplace — a week before landing in the U.S. and additional major markets, including China, on Nov. 4.

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the titular superhero, a surgeon named Stephen Strange whose career is ruined after his hands are destroyed in a car accident. He seeks out the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton), who teaches him the power of the mystical arts.

Scott Derrickson directed the pic, which also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Rachel McAdams.

The movie easily topped the foreign chart ahead of Inferno, which took in another $29 million in its third weekend for an international total of $132 million. (Inferno, which began rolling out offshore in mid-October, bombed in its U.S. debut over Halloween weekend with $15 million).

Doctor Strange is making a big play in Imax locations. This coming weekend, the large-screen format posted record results with an estimated $7.8 million from 213 Imax screens in 32 countries, the circuit's biggest October opening. And the superhero movie enjoyed the biggest Imax opening ever in South Korea, beating Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

Next weekend, Doctor Strange opens in another 787 Imax theaters around the world, including North America, where it will bump Inferno from many screens. It will be the widest global release in Imax history, and the first time a title plays on more than 1,000 Imax screens.