***UPDATED Monday, December 20***
The final numbers are in and Spider-Man: No Way Home swung past Avengers: Infinity War to become the second-best, not third-best, domestic opening of all time. Its final tally for the weekend, including Thursday previews which started early, around the 3 pm range, is $260 million, which is higher than Infinity War’s $257.698M. However, Infinity War still outperformed No Way Home internationally, so worldwide, No Way Home remains the third-highest-grossing opening of all time.
You can read the original Weekend Box Office Report Below:
Coronavirus be damned! Audiences didn’t give a flip about that as they flocked to theaters to check out Spider-Man: No Way Home, driving the superhero threequel to the third-best domestic (U.S./Canada) opening of all time. ALL TIME! Not just a pandemic record (although it is) but even compared to pre-pandemic times.
For the record, No Way Home made $253 million domestically, besting the opening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which made $247.9M in 2015. No Way Home trails behind the openings of Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War. It has also made more in its opening weekend than Eternals has made in its entire theatrical run.
This opening also marks the best December opening of all time and Sony’s highest opening.
Globally, No Way Home made $587.2M. Once again, that falls behind Avengers: Endgame ($1.22 billion) and Avengers: Infinity War ($640.5M). However, No Way Home was not released in China, the second-largest market for American movies.
Benefiting No Way Home is the fact that it is theatrical only and many people have already gone to see it multiple times and more people will do so over the coming weeks.
It is a certified crowd-pleaser. Its critical score on Rotten Tomatoes is a remarkable 94% and its audience score is an even better 99%. Exiting audiences gave it an A+ via CinemaScore.
Chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, Tom Rothman, declared:
“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. 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. Thanks to their brilliant work, this Christmas everyone can enjoy the big screen gift of 2021’s mightiest Super Hero —your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”
Last weekend’s #1, Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story took a hard topple, down 68% week over week. Disney and 20th Century Studios hoped that this older-skewing film, which specifically appeals to women, would prove to be a word of mouth hit and serve as counterprogramming to the younger male-skewing Spider-Man. But despite racking up numerous Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award nominations this past week, it looks as though this musical is fading fast. (Also, just a personal observation, but the Marvel movies draw a HELL of a lot of female viewers. There were entire groups of just girls at my screening.)
In its second weekend, West Side Story fell below Disney’s animated Encanto (also the recipient of multiple Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award nominations) which is proving to have stronger legs than many anticipated.
In what looks to be a big blunder, Searchlight Studios released Guillermo del Toro’s stylish thriller Nightmare Alley wide. Like West Side Story, this is viewed as counterprogramming to Spider-Man, as it will appeal to older, more cerebral cinemagoers. But let’s face it, EVERYBODY was seeing Spider-Man this weekend.
Willem Dafoe, who plays the Green Goblin/Norman Osborn in No Way Home, also co-stars in Nightmare Alley, along with Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen, and David Strathairn.
Frank Rodriquez, SVP General Sales Manager, Fox Searchlight Pictures, said:
“The numbers were a bit more modest than we had predicted. The hope is that after people have seen Spider-Man, they may choose to see a film like Nightmare Alley. We went wide because we feel that we have a very commercial film, with big stars. We spent some money, and put ourselves out there. It’s not just arthouse, it really is a four-quadrant film able to play in upscale multiplexes, mainstream locations, and even urban markets. We figured, let’s carve out a little space. Nobody thought Spider-Man would be this big. Maybe there’s some awards consideration and maybe a way to come back in. We’re hopeful we’ll get them on the second go-round. It’s a long haul for us.”
Nightmare Alley ended up in fifth place. You can view the Top Five below:
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- Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony) – $253M / Wk 1
- Encanto (Disney) – $6.5M / Wk 4 – Total $81.5M
- West Side Story (20th Century Studios/Disney) – $3.416M / Wk 2 – Total $17.98M
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife (Sony) – $3.4M / Wk 5 – Total $117.2M
- Nightmare Alley (Searchlight) – $2.958M / Wk 1
A few competitors are coming to challenge Spider-Man for the crown next week. Due to Christmas falling on Saturday, most major films are opening on Wednesday and those include The Matrix Resurrections, The King’s Man, and Sing 2.
The King’s Man has already gotten poor reviews– 49% on Rotten Tomatoes– and is a franchise that is rapidly running out of steam. Similarly, The Matrix Resurrections may be too little too late as the original franchise is nearly 20 years old and the second and third movies were not well-liked. It’s also going to be released day and date on HBO Max, so people can watch it for free from home.
Sing 2 may do well with families with very young kids, especially considering that Encanto has been out for a month. Then again, kids like Spider-Man too.
Will you be heading to the cinema during Christmas break? If so, what will you check out? Come back next week to see how the films perform!
