Movie

Tom Holland's third standalone outing as the web-slinger bows to an estimated $253 million in North America and $334.2 million overseas despite rising concerns over the COVID omicron variant.

• Dec 20, 2021

AceShowbiz - "Spider-Man: No Way Home" is swinging its way to the top of North American box office. Conquering fears amid the rising number of breakthrough COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant, the movie managed to lure fans to theater on its first weekend.

The result is a massive $253 million opening for the third installment of the standalone Spidey movie starring Tom Holland, according to studio estimates on Sunday, December 19. With the number, the Marvel-Sony superhero film is already the top-grossing movie of the year in North America.

Before the weekend kicked off, "No Way Home" was forecast to open at between $130-150 million domestically. It became clear that the movie would far exceed those estimates as the flick took in $121 million on its first day alone.

Overseas, fans also didn't want to miss the chance to watch the movie as soon as possible in theaters. The movie delivered $334.2 from 60 international markets for a global tally of $587.2 million, making it the third-biggest worldwide opening weekend ever behind "Avengers: Endgame" ($1.2 billion) and "Avengers: Infinity War" ($640 million).

"This weekend's historic 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' results, from all over the world and in the face of many challenges, reaffirm the unmatched cultural impact that exclusive theatrical films can have when they are made and marketed with vision and resolve," says Tom Rothman, Sony Pictures Chairman and CEO, in a statement. "All of us at Sony Pictures are deeply grateful to the fabulous talent, both in front of and behind the camera, that produced such a landmark film."

David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, adds, "This is an incredible opening and a timely reminder of what the big screen still means to mainstream moviegoers. Most big series struggle to maintain their success this late in their run […] 'Spider-Man' is exploding."

"For the target audience, this is absolute must-see, required viewing," Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, also weighs in. "There is no way fans were going to opt out because of omicron."

Holland, meanwhile, thanked the audience for the record numbers. "You made this possible. Your love and support means the world to me," he wrote Saturday, December 19 on Instagram. "Thank you thank you thank you and if you haven't seen Spider-Man no way home yet … merry Christmas and you know what to do."

In the wake of "No Way Home" massive success, Kevin Feige has confirmed that there will be at least one more "Spider-Man" movie following the threequel. In an interview with the New York Times that also features producer Amy Pascal, the head of Marvel Movies said that they are already talking about the next installment.

"Amy and I and Disney and Sony are talking about - yes, we're actively beginning to develop where the story heads next," he said, assuring that the 2019 separation fear will not repeat itself this time. He added, "… which I only say outright because I don't want fans to go through any separation trauma like what happened after 'Far From Home' [the previous 'Spider-Man' movie, in 2019]. That will not be occurring this time."

Back to this week's domestic box office chart, it isn't all festive for fellow new release "Nightmare Alley". The Guillermo del Toro-directed s star-studded crime thriller has a weak debut at No. 5 with only approximately $2.9 million against its reported $60 million budget, despite a 81% fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.

"Encanto" holds on to No. 2 with an estimated $6.5 million, dropping just 34.6% from last week. "West Side Story", meanwhile, goes through a landslide with approximately $3.4 million after a disappointing opening last week, with "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" adding an estimated $3.4 million in the fourth place.

Top 10 of North America Box Office (Dec. 17-20, 2021):

1. "Spider-Man: No Way Home" - $253 million
2. "Encanto" - $6.5 million
3. "West Side Story" - $3.4 million
4. "Ghostbusters: Afterlife" - $3.4 million
5. "Nightmare Alley" - $2.9 million
6. "House of Gucci" - $1.8 million
7. "Pushpa: The Rise - Part 1" - $1.3 million
8. "Eternals" - $1.2 million
9. "Clifford the Big Red Dog" - $400,000 million
10. "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" - $280,000