‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Hits the $1 Billion Mark at the International Box Office

Spider-Man: No Way Home” unwrapped the best Christmas gift of all, becoming the first pandemic-era movie to cross $1 billion at the global box office.

Sony’s comic-book epic has eclipsed that milestone in a near-record 12 days, tying with 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as the third-fastest film to reach the billion-dollar benchmark. Only 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War” and 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame” were quicker, smashing the coveted tally in 11 and five days, respectively.

It’s impressive that “Spider-Man: No Way Home” managed to blow past $1 billion in ticket sales worldwide given the rapidly spreading omicron variant of COVID-19. But, so far, coronavirus concerns have done little to slow Peter Parker’s prowess; the film is still playing to many sold-out screenings nationwide. The achievement makes Tom Holland’s Marvel superhero adventure the only movie since 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” to surpass $1 billion globally. No other Hollywood film has come close to nearing those box office revenues in the last two years. Prior to Spidey’s reign, MGM’s James Bond sequel “No Time to Die,” which grossed $774 million globally, came the closest and stood as the highest-grossing Hollywood film of 2021 (and the pandemic).

With $1 billion banked, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” also took the earthly throne from another box-office behemoth, China’s local-language war film “The Battle at Lake Changjin” ($902 million globally), officially cementing its place as the year’s highest-grossing film worldwide. It’s also notable that “No Way Home” surpassed that high-watermark without playing in China, which is currently the world’s biggest moviegoing market.

At the domestic box office, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” had another dominant weekend, soaring high above the competition during a crowded Christmas corridor. The newest “Spider-Man” adventure collected $81 million from 4,336 North American theaters over the weekend, down 69% from its jaw-dropping debut. To put its second-weekend figure in perspective, only select COVID-era releases have managed to generate that kind of coinage in their entire theatrical runs, much less in their sophomore outings. “Spider-Man: No Way Home” also managed to do so at a time when several new movies — “The Matrix Resurrections,” “Sing 2” and “The King’s Man,” among others — opened nationwide to decent (and not-so-decent) ticket sales.

It brings the film’s ten-day total to a mammoth $467 million at the domestic box office. That tally is more than double the year’s next highest-grossing movie, Disney and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” which earned a mighty $224 million domestically. At the international box office, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” added $121.4 million over the weekend and has made $587 million to date, boosting its global revenues to $1.05 billion.

Universal and Illumination’s animated musical “Sing 2” had the biggest start among new releases, debuting in second place with $23.7 million from 3,892 domestic theaters over the traditional weekend and $41 million since Wednesday. (That number is slightly inflated because it includes $1.6 million banked from advanced screenings over Thanksgiving weekend.) It’s a softer start than

its predecessor, 2016’s “Sing,” which had secured a three-day total of $35 million and five-day tally of $54.9 million. However, it’s not a bad result for a film targeted at parents with young kids at a time when family audiences have been especially wary about going to the movies.

(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Hits the $1 Billion Mark at the International Box Office

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