‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ smashes box office records
Spider-Man: No Way Home, the third movie in the Spider-Man trilogy starring Tom Holland, smashed its opening weekend at the US and Canadian box office by bringing in an estimated $253 million, according to Sony.
This marks the third highest opening weekend in box office history, and is the highest opening weekend for the month of December.
Around the globe, No Way Home generated an additional $334.2 million for a worldwide weekend total of $587.2 million, according to the studio.
The highly-anticipated film, which has been dubbed as "the best Marvel movie of all time" blew past its original projections by $123 million. Only 2019's Avengers: Endgame and 2018's Avengers: Infinity War opened to larger numbers.
"The best Marvel movie of all time” is here! #SpiderManNoWayHome is now playing exclusively in movie theaters! pic.twitter.com/1iE0cEyTXu
— Sony Pictures (@SonyPictures) December 16, 2021
Variety reports that it took only one day for No Way Home to become the highest grossing opening of any movie during the pandemic, and only one weekend to become the highest grossing film of 2021. The opening was also the best for the Spider-Man franchise and for Sony Pictures.
Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures, spoke about the film's historic success on Sunday (Dec. 19), two days after the film's international release.
"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," Rothman said in a statement. "
The film, starring Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) and Zendaya (MJ) as they battle villains from across the Marvel multiverse, brought in a higher opening weekend than some of the most successful blockbusters of all time, including Star Wars: The Force Awakens, The Avengers and Black Panther.
Holland offered his thanks to fans for their support via social media.
“You made this possible. Your love and support means the world to me. 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,” he wrote on Instagram.
No Way Home, which is showing exclusively in theaters internationally, was able to bring in record box office returns despite rising concerns over the Omicron variant of COVID-19, which caused Broadway shows to cancel in New York City.
In Asia, Spider-Man: No Way Home notched the largest tally in South Korea ($23.7 million), followed by India ($18.2 million) and Hong Kong ($6.3 million).
Audiences in the Philippines will have to wait a couple more weeks for the film to arrive in the country. Spider-Man: No Way Home is set to arrive in local theaters on Jan. 8, 2022.