Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness had the biggest box office opening since, well, the last time Benedict Cumberbatch played Doctor Strange on the big screen. Multiverse of Madness hauled in $187 million in domestic ticket grosses last weekend when it debuted, which is the biggest pandemic-era opening-weekend blockbuster save for Spider-Man: No Way Home’s $260 million. Both movies featured Cumberbatch flitting around amid multiverse shenanigans — and both didn’t give fans a streaming option when the films first came out.
Disney’s streaming strategy for its theatrical releases has been all over the map. Encanto spent a month in theaters before streaming. For Marvel‘s Eternals, it was two. West Side Story — the Steven Spielberg reimagining of the musical — hit Disney Plus about three months after it played exclusively in cinemas. And then Pixar’s Turning Red skipped theaters entirely and was only available to
Disney hasn’t confirmed a streaming release date for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness yet, but here some educated guesses about what to expect.
Is Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness streaming yet on Disney Plus?
No, but it will eventually. Doctor Strange was released May 6 exclusively in theaters.
During the height of lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions, Disney Plus introduced what it called Premier Access, which let subscribers pay an extra $30 fee on top of their normal subscription cost to stream its theatrical movies starting the same day they hit cinemas.
But lately, Disney has been giving its live-action theatrical releases long stints of exclusivity in theaters, without any streaming option. Except for Pixar films, Disney hasn’t released a movie straight to Disney Plus since Jungle Cruise in July, which was available by paying extra through Premier Access.
When is Doctor Strange’s streaming release date?
Disney hasn’t set it yet, but Doctor Strange is likely to be available on Disney Plus sometime in mid-July. Marvel’s last two movies were in theaters for roughly the same amount of time before they started streaming. For Shang-Chi, it was 70 days; for Eternals, 68. If Doctor Strange sticks to that timeline too, it would become available on Disney Plus around mid-July.
Disney typically confirms the streaming release date about a month or two in advance.
