Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is a 2016 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 14th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). John Spyhots and c. The film was directed by Scott Derrickson from a screenplay he wrote with Robert Cargill, and stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Madkins, Adkins, Rachel McAdams, as neurosurgeon Stephen Strange. Mikkelsen and Tilda Swinton. In the film, Strange learns the mystical arts after a career-ending car accident.
Various incarnations of Doctor Strange film adaptations have been produced since the mid-1980s until Paramount Pictures acquired the film rights from Marvel Studios in April 2005. Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer were brought on board in June 2010 to write a screenplay. In June 2014, Derrickson was hired to direct, with Spyhots rewriting the script. Cumberbatch was cast in the title role in December 2014, necessitating a schedule change to work around his other commitments. This gave Derrickson time to work on the script, for which he brought in Cargill to help. Principal photography on the film began in Nepal in November 2015, before moving to England and Hong Kong, and concluded in New York City in April 2016.

Released

Doctor Strange had its world premiere in Hong Kong on October 13, 2016, and was released in the United States on November 4 as part of Phase III of the MCU. The film grossed $677.8 million worldwide and was praised for its cast, visual effects and musical score. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. A sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, was released in May 2022.

Details

In Kathmandu, the sorcerer Caecilius and his followers enter the secret compound Kamar-Taj and behead its librarian. They steal several pages from a book of the Ancient One, a long-lived sorcerer who taught every student of Kamar-Taj, including Caecilius, in the arcane arts. The Ancient One pursues the traitors, but Caecilius and his followers escape.
In New York City, Dr. Stephen Strange, a wealthy and acclaimed, yet arrogant neurosurgeon, severely injures his hand in a car accident on his way to a speaking conference, leaving him permanently incapacitated. Fellow surgeon Christine Palmer tries to help him move on, but Strange performs experimental surgery to heal his hand in vain. Strange learns about Jonathan Pangborn, a paraplegic who mysteriously gained the use of his legs. Pangborn directs Strange to Kamar-Taj, where he is taken by Mordo, a sorcerer under the Ancient One. The Ancient One demonstrates his powers to Strange, revealing other dimensions such as the Astral Plane and the Mirror Dimension. He reluctantly agrees to train Strange, whose arrogance and ambition reminds him of Caecilius.
Strange studies under Ancient One and Mordo, and from ancient texts in the library now guarded by Master Wang. Strange learns that Earth is protected from other dimensional threats by a shield emanating from three sanctuaries in New York City, London, and Hong Kong, which are directly accessible from Kamar-Taj. The sorcerers’ job is to protect the sanctuary, though Pangborn chose to channel mystical energy to cure his paralysis. Strange quickly advances, and secretly reads the book from which Caecilius stole the pages, learning to bend time with the Eye of Agamotto. Mordo and Wong warn Strange against breaking the laws of nature, comparing it to Kaecilius’ desire for eternal life.
Caecilius uses the stolen pages to contact Dormammu in the Dark Dimension, where time does not exist, and destroys the London Sanctuary to weaken Earth’s defenses. The Enthusiasts then attack the New York Sanctum, killing its guardian, but Strange holds them back with the Cloak of Levitation, only to be seriously injured during a confrontation. He sends himself back to the hospital where Palmer saves him. Upon returning to the Sanctuary, Strange reveals to Mordo that the Ancient One is drawing energy from the Dark Dimension to sustain a long life, and Mordo becomes disillusioned with him. After a fight in New York’s Mirror Dimension, Caecilius mortally wounds the Ancient One and flees to Hong Kong. Before dying, he tells Strange that he and Mordo must work together to defeat Kaecilius, balancing Mordo’s steadfast nature against Strange’s willingness to bend the rules. Strange and Mordo arrive in Hong Kong to find Wang dead, the Sanctuary destroyed and the Dark Dimension engulfing Earth. Strange uses the Eye to reverse time and save Wang, then enters the Dark Dimension and creates an endless time loop around himself and Dormammu. After repeatedly killing Strange to no avail, Dormammu finally accepted his bargain, leaving Earth permanently and taking Caecilius and the Enthusiasts in exchange for Strange breaking the loop.
Fed up with Strange and the Ancient One violating the laws of nature, Mordo abandons his magical career and leaves. Strange returns the Eye, which is revealed to hold an Infinity Stone, returns to the Blacksmith-Taj and resides in the New York Sanctum to continue his studies with Wang. In a mid-credits scene, Strange decides to help Thor, who has brought his brother Loki to Earth to search for their father, Odin. Tells him that there are “many wizards” in the world.

Cast and characters

Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Stephen Strange:
A neurosurgeon who, after a car accident that leads to a journey of healing, discovers hidden worlds of magic and alternate dimensions. Cumberbatch describes Strange as arrogant, with the film “about him moving from a place where he thinks he’s everything. know and understand that he knows nothing.” Both characters are “intelligent” and have “same color isolation”. The film’s mysticism resonated with Cumberbatch, for whom spirituality was important since he spent time teaching English at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Darjeeling, India. Strange’s powers in the film include “spells with tongue-twistingly funny names, creating orbs of light for shields and weapons, and creating portals for fast travel around the world. Strange also has a cloak of levitation for flight and the Eye of the Agamotor, a relic containing an Infinity Stone. Cumberbatch took great care in defining the physical movements and gestures for the spells, knowing that they would be noted and studied by fans. He described these gestures as “balletic” and “very dynamic”. did, and was aided in the finger-tooting movement by dancer JFunk.
Chiwetel Ejiofor as Karl Mordo:
A master of arcane arts, close to the Ancient One, and a mentor to Strange. This version of Mordo is an amalgamation of various characters from the Doctor Strange mythos, and unlike the comics, is not portrayed as a villain. As Ejiofor noted, Mordo is “a very complex character who, really, I don’t think can be contained in any way”. Director Scott Derrickson added that the character change arose from Ejiofor’s casting and his conversations with the director. Ejiofor described Mordo’s relationship with the Ancient One as “long and intense”, noting a “growing respect” between the character and Strange, until “things get complicated”. Derrickson considered Mordo a radical, saying, “When one surrenders himself to an extraordinarily rigid moral code, the process of breaking out of it is a violent one. He becomes disillusioned with the [moral conflict] of the ancient man. The difference can be strange. That acknowledge the conflict. Mordo can’t deal with it,” which leads to “antagonism between Mordo and Strange” to be explored in future films. Discussing the diversity of the film’s cast while addressing the controversial casting of the characters Ancient One and Wang, Derrickson was confident that the decision to cast Ejiofor as Mordo, and thus change the character “from white to black”, was the right one. to do
Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer:
An emergency surgeon was originally written as Strange’s love interest, but shortly before filming, Derrickson suggested that this trope be subverted by making the two characters’ lovers part of their backstories and “coming out the other side of it. As friends”. McAdams describes this dynamic by saying, “Love doesn’t exist between them no matter what stage they’re at in the actual relationship.” Once in life, he stepped into the role of a magician. He is someone she connects with in the beginning, and reconnects with and helps anchor her humanity. New York City, the normal world” was important to the studio after her journey, which is why Palmer was chosen for the character over the more prominent, but more fantastical character Clea. In Palmer’s comics, the protagonist is also known as the Night Nurse, a storyline that did not play out in the film, but in Fizz. The allusion may be explored in future films. Rosario Dawson portrays another Night Nurse character, Claire Temple, in Marvel’s Netflix television series.
Benedict Wong as Wong:
A master of the arcane arts, Kamar-Taj was tasked with protecting some of the most valuable relics and books. The character is depicted in the comics as Strange’s Asian, “tea-making manservant”, a racial stereotype that Derrickson did not want in the film, and so the character was not included in the film’s script. After casting non-Asian actress Tilda Swinton as the other notable Asian character in the Doctor Strange comics, Ancient One—which was also done to avoid the comics’ racial stereotypes—Derrickson felt compelled to find a way to include Wang. The film in which he eventually appears is “a character completely deconstructed and reworked into something that doesn’t fall into any of the stereotypes from the comics”, which Derrickson was pleased to have given an Asian character “a strong presence in the movie”.Actor Wong was also pleased with the character’s change, describing him as “a drill sergeant at Kamar-Taj” rather than an employee. He does not practice martial arts in the film, avoiding another racial stereotype. Derrickson added that Wong will have “a strong presence in the Marvel Cinematic Universe”.
Michael Stuhlbarg as Nicodemus West: Strange’s rival surgeon.
Benjamin Bratt as Jonathan Pangbourne: A paraplegic who learns from an ancient man how to heal himself through mystical arts.
Scott Adkins as Lucian: One of Caecilius’ followers.
Mads Mikkelsen as Kaesilius:
A master of arcane arts who broke away from the Ancient One. An amalgamation of several antagonists from the comics, Caecilius was used in the film to introduce and develop major villains for the future, including “some person who lives in another dimension”. Derrickson compared this dynamic to Saruman and Sauron in The Lord of the Rings, giving the film a “massive and magnificent” villain like Sauron, but with a “human connection” to Saruman-like Caecilius to confront Strange throughout the film. Derrickson acknowledged that Marvel’s villains are often criticized and noted that the MCU films allow little time for antagonist development. As for Doctor Strange, he hoped to show as much “Caecilius’ point of view and what makes him tick” as he could, from The Dark Knight to Seven and the Joker. On this inspiration, Feige explains that Kaecilius believes the Ancient One is a hypocrite, protecting his own power base, and that the world can be better “if we let this other thing through.” Mikkelsen’s makeup took 2-3 hours to apply.
Tilda Swinton as Ancient One:
A Celtic mystic who becomes Strange’s mentor. The character is a Tibetan man in the comics, and co-writer C. Robert Cargill stated that adapting the character as he is portrayed in the comics would realize the dominant Asian Fu Manchu stereotype while engaging the film with the Tibetan sovereignty debate. However, not giving an Asian actor one of the few notable Asian roles would also be perceived negatively; Cargill compares this situation to the Kobayashi Maru, an invincibility training exercise in Star Trek. Derrickson wanted to change the character to an Asian woman, but felt an older Asian woman would invoke the dragon lady stereotype, while a younger Asian woman would be perceived as an Asian fetish exploiter and “fanboy’s dream girl”. He wanted to avoid the stereotype of “a Western character who comes to Asia to learn about being Asian”, and decided to cast a non-Asian actor in the role. Derrickson still wanted to take the opportunity to have an actress play the former male role, and wrote the character with Swinton in mind as he felt she was “dominant, secretive, ethereal, mysterious, [and] the obvious choice to play the character. Mysterious”. Furthermore, although the film ” By using the words “her” and “she”, Swinton chose to portray the character as androgynous, while Feige explained that the Ancient One and Sorcerer Supreme have been held by multiple characters in time in the films, so a more comic-correct Ancient One is still in the MCU. may exist. Despite this, Swinton’s casting was widely criticized as whitewashing. Derrickson said he was pleased with the diversity of the film’s cast, both in terms of gender and ethnicity, but acknowledged that “Asians have been whitewashed and stereotyped in American cinema for over a century, and people must be mad or nothing will change. The better of two evils.” was less, but it is still an evil.” Looking back at the casting in May 2021, Feige said the studio thought they were being “so smart and so modern” while avoiding the wisecracking old Asian man stereotype, but the criticism of the casting was a wake-up call that made them realize they were within the stereotype. Could have cast an Asian actor in the role without reading.
Cumberbatch also portrayed, uncredited, the villainous entity Dormammu. The actor suggested that he take on the role of Derrickson, feeling that the character would work better being a “terrifying” reflection of Strange than simply being “a big scary monster”. The director agrees, elaborating that the casting implies that Dormammu does not have a normal physical form in his own dimension and therefore Strange is simply impersonating him to face them. To create the character, Cumberbatch provided motion-capture references for the visual effects team, and his voice was mixed with another uncredited British actor, who Derrickson described as having a “very deep voice”. The producers had Tony Todd record voiceovers for Dormammu as an alternative to Cumberbatch, but ultimately decided to use Cumberbatch for the voice.
Chris Hemsworth reprises his role as Thor from previous MCU films in the film’s mid-credits scene. Additionally, Linda Louise Duane, unnamed, as Tina Minoru, Mark Anthony Brighton portrays Daniel Drumm,[55] and Topo Resniviro portrays Hamir, all masters of the arcane arts under the Ancient One. The latter is based on Hamir the Hermit, Wong’s father in the comics, who was the personal attendant of the Ancient One. The character is neither an employee nor Wang’s father in the film. Zara Fithian, Alaa Safi, and Katrina Durden portray zealots under Caecilius, and Pat Kiernan appears as himself. Doctor Strange co-creator Stan Lee makes a cameo appearance as a bus rider reading Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception. Amy Landecker was cast as anesthesiologist Brunner, but most of her role was cut from the finished film.

Box Office

Doctor Strange grossed $232.6 million in the United States and Canada and $445.2 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $677.8 million. The film surpassed Interstellar’s records in November domestically ($12.2 million), internationally ($24 million), and worldwide ($24.2 million). By November 27, 2016, the film became the largest single-character role in the MCU. Deadline Hollywood calculated the film’s net profit at $122.65 million, accounting for production budget, marketing, talent engagement and other costs; Box office revenue and home media revenue placed it 11th on the list of “Most Valuable Blockbusters” of 2016.
Doctor Strange earned $32.6 million on its opening day in the United States and Canada, including Thursday previews, for a weekend total of $85.1 million; IMAX contributed $12.2 million in the opening weekend, with 3D contributing $24 million. The film was the number one film for the weekend and became the second biggest November opening for Disney. Early estimates for the film in late August 2016 ranged from $50 million to a peak of $88 million in its first weekend, Doctor Strange remained the top film in its second weekend, and fell to second place in third, behind Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. In its fourth weekend, Doctor Strange was the third highest-grossing film behind Fantastic Beasts and Moana. It fell to fifth place in its fifth and sixth weekends, and dropped to the ninth-highest-grossing spot in its seventh weekend. It was projected to earn $255 million for its total domestic gross.
Outside the United States and Canada, Doctor Strange earned $87.7 million from 33 markets in its opening weekend, becoming the top film in all markets except Lithuania and Finland. South Korea was the top market overall with $18.1 million, the biggest opening weekend ever for an original Marvel release domestically and the best opening ever for an IMAX film. IMAX earned a record $7.8 million, the best international IMAX debut for a film in October, while Russia saw its biggest Saturday IMAX gross for a Marvel film. Additionally, Hong Kong ($3.2 million), Thailand ($2.5 million), Malaysia ($2.4 million), and Singapore ($2.2 million) also had the biggest opening weekends for an original Marvel film. [205] In its second weekend, the film opened in 22 additional markets, becoming the top film in China with $44.4 million, the highest 3-day opening weekend for a first-part superhero film there. China’s opening was the third highest for an MCU film behind Avengers: Age of Ultron and Captain America: Civil War, as well as the best 3-day opening for an IMAX film in November with $6.3 million. IMAX also set November opening records in India, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador. Brazil was also a top market, earning $7.9 million.
Doctor Strange was the number one film in Denmark, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore for the third week in a row and the number one film in its third weekend and number one in its second week. China and Russia. It became the highest-grossing original MCU release in India, Hong Kong, South Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Its fourth weekend gross exceeded $100 million in China, “an increasingly rare feat in 2016.” The following weekend, Doctor Strange opened in Argentina, where it was the number one film and grossed $1 million. The film’s fourteenth weekend saw it open in Japan, where it was number one with $4.5 million. As of December 4, 2016, the film’s largest markets were China ($110.3 million), South Korea ($41.3 million), and the United Kingdom and Ireland ($27.9 million).

About

Directed by	Scott Derrickson
Written by	·         Jon Spaihts ·         Scott Derrickson ·         C. Robert Cargill
Based on	Doctor Strange by ·         Stan Lee ·         Steve Ditko
Produced by	Kevin Feige
Starring	·         Benedict Cumberbatch ·         Chiwetel Ejiofor ·         Rachel McAdams ·         Benedict Wong ·         Michael Stuhlbarg ·         Benjamin Bratt ·         Scott Adkins ·         Mads Mikkelsen ·         Tilda Swinton
Cinematography	Ben Davis
Edited by	·         Wyatt Smith ·         Sabrina Plisco
Music by	Michael Giacchino
Production company	Marvel Studios
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release dates	·         October 13, 2016 (Hong Kong) ·         November 4, 2016 (United States)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$165–236.6 million
Box office	$677.8 million

 

ScreenShots