Marvel's 'Doctor Strange' sequel slipped at the box office in its second weekend, but no worse than the hit 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'

• "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" dropped 67.5% at the US box office in its second weekend.
• It's a steep drop, but in line with "Spider-Man: No Way Home's" second-weekend decline.

Marvel's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" is dominating the box office right now with $688 million globally after little more than a week in theaters, $291 million of which is from the US.

The movie's US box office take dropped a steep 67.5% in its second weekend in theaters with little competition. After earning $187 million during its three-day debut, the 11th biggest opening ever, the movie made $61 million this past weekend.

But it's still a decent showing that suggests the theatrical industry is on the road to recovery.

The movie has earned more globally than some other MCU movies in just two weekends, including the first "Doctor Strange" film that was released in 2016.

And the "Doctor Strange" sequel's second-weekend drop is in line with "Spider-Man: No Way Home," which had a sizable opening weekend of $260 million and also experienced a 67.5% drop in weekend No. 2.

Here are the second-weekend declines for the most recent MCU movies, in order of release date:

• "Spider-Man: No Way Home" — 67.5% ($84.5 million)
• "Eternals" — 62.4% ($26.5 million)
• "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" — 54.0% ($34.7 million)
• "Black Widow" — 67.9% ($25.8 million)
• "Spider-Man: Far From Home" — 51.1% ($45.3 million)

Typically, if a movie has a dramatic fall after its first weekend, poor word of mouth is part of the reason.

This coming weekend's box office will help determine if word of mouth is impacting the latest "Doctor Strange" installment as well. The movie was already likely to have a sharp drop during its second weekend after such a big opening. But it still faces little competition heading into its third weekend in theaters, and shouldn't experience as steep of a decline if it's generating buzz.

"Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" has a 74% Rotten Tomatoes critic score, which is on the lower end of critic scores for MCU movies.

"The story makes apocalyptic stakes — the fate of the multiverse; the struggle between good and evil — seem curiously trivial," A.O. Scott wrote for the New York Times.

It also received a B+ grade from CinemaScore, a company that surveys audiences on a movie's opening night. Only two other MCU movies have received a grade below an A-: 2011's "Thor" (B+) and last year's "Eternals" (B).

If "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" does lose steam at the box office, it could be good news for Paramount's "Top Gun: Maverick," however. The film opens over Memorial Day weekend after several coronavirus-related delays.