News Of The Week: 'Doctor Strange 2' Set For Huge Opening Weekend

CinemaCon might be over but that doesn’t mean the movie news has slowed down. With Marvel’s Doctor Strange 2 kicking off the start of summer movie season this weekend, May begins and ends with two huge tentpoles. Blockbusters are back, and in between, there’s all sorts of news.

As always, Atom Insider brings you a few hand-picked stories we think you’ll like. Ready? Let’s dive in.

‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse of Madness’ Projected To Beat ‘The Batman’ Opening Weekend

To the surprise of very few, Marvel’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is set for a monster opening weekend. Multiple box office tracking sites and trades have projected the sequel to haul in anywhere between $160-$200 million in its opening weekend, domestically. If those numbers seem outlandish, they’re not. With Doctor Strange 2 already selling an impressive $65 million in ticket presales, it’s not out of the question to think its three-day total might end up closer to the $200 million end of the projection. Even if it falters and winds up being more in the lower end of the spread, that’s still good enough for the best opening weekend of 2022 so far, beating out The Batman‘s $134 million opening weekend haul. If it does hit that high end and even creeps over, it would be just the second May release in history to eclipse $200 million its opening weekend. Fittingly, the only other movie to do that was 2012’s The Avengers, which brought in $207.4 million in its own opening weekend in May. Whatever the totals for Doctor Strange 2, one thing is certain: movie theaters are definitely surging back.

Read our review of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Meg Ryan Teaming Up With David Duchovny For A New Rom-Com

The queen of late-’80s and ’90s rom-coms is returning to the genre with a brand-new one. Meg Ryan is set to both direct and star opposite David Duchovny in the rom-com What Happens Later, which is described as being an “evolved and nostalgic” take on the genre. The story is based on the play Shooting Star by playwright Steven Dietz, who co-write the adaptation script with Ryan and novelist Kirk Lynn. The story follows Willa and Bill, two former lovers who split decades ago. One night, they find fate bringing them face-to-face for the first time in years when a snowstorm snows them both in overnight at an airport. Willa is still carefree and independent while Bill is fresh out of a divorce and contemplating where he went wrong. As they’re drawn together, it forces them to finally confront what happened years ago, only to find their individual versions of events don’t quite line up. While Bleecker Street hasn’t set a release date yet for the project, production is set to begin later this year in Bentonville, Arkansas.

‘Black Panther 2’ Star Teases New Details About ‘Wakanda Forever’

With the complete overhaul necessitated by the sudden and tragic passing of star Chadwick Boseman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has largely been the most secretive Marvel movie in production. Those hoping that the sequel will make sure to honor Boseman can rest assured, however. While walking down the red carpet at the Met Gala, star Danai Gurira stopped to talk to Yahoo! about the movie. While she didn’t reveal much about the plot, she assured people that the movie will evoke deep emotion in audiences, saying, “It tells a very heart-wrenching story. And that is all I can say! We hope… that it resonates for everybody the way it does for us. It’s all about [Chadwick] for all of us. It’s all an outpouring to love and honor him.” Wakanda Forever is currently in post-production and set for a release on November 11 this year. While a few details are known and speculated, expect more info to start being released over the coming months once the Doctor Strange 2 and Thor 4 juggernauts are out of the way.

Lady Gaga Releases ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Song ‘Hold My Hand’ Ahead Of World Premiere

In a fun bit of news, Lady Gaga released the song she penned for Top Gun: Maverick ahead of its world premiere this week, which saw Tom Cruise helicopter in and Gaga herself arrive in a flying–yes, literally flying–dress. Attendees at CinemaCon got a first listen of the song last week, but the full length of “Hold My Hand” has been released. It could be the second song from a Top Gun soundtrack to earn an Oscar nomination; Tom Whitlock and Giorgio Moroder’s “Take My Breath Away,” performed by Berlin, won the Oscar for Best Original Song at the 1987 Academy Awards.

Check out Lady Gaga’s song below: