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 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. It 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, stood as the highest-grossing
Hollywood film of 2021 (and the pandemic). As
the first movie to reach $1 billion worldwide,
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" took the earthly
throne from another box-office behemoth, China's
"The Battle at Lake Changjin" ($902 million), to
officially cement 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 dominating 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. To put that 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 second
weekend of release. "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 next
highest-grossing movie in 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, bringing 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 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.
The movie, directed by Garth Jennings and voiced
by Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon,
Scarlett Johansson, Nick Kroll and Bono, has
been well received by audiences, who awarded it
a coveted "A+" CinemaScore. Unless the pandemic
has something to say, "Sing 2" should benefit
from a long run on the big screen, especially
since it doesn't have much competition among
family films. The original "Sing," centering on
a bevy of animals with killer pipes, also opened
around Christmas and played in theaters well
into the new year, ultimately grossing $270
million domestically and $634 million worldwide.
At this rate, the sequel will have trouble
replicating those results but it should remain
the de facto choice for youngsters through the
holiday season.
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 "The Matrix Resurrections," the
Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow's sci-fi
sequel, landed with a thud in third place. The
cerebral film landed significantly below
expectations, scraping together $12 million from
3,552 cinemas over the weekend and $22.5 million
since Wednesday. The fourth installment in the
seminal series, like Warner Bros. entire 2021
slate, is available simultaneously on HBO Max,
though the company didn't provide digital
viewership metrics.
Lana Wachowski returned to
direct "The Matrix Resurrections," which stars
Keanu Reeves as the sleek cybercriminal Neo and
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity. The $200
million-budgeted tentpole has gotten mixed
reviews (it has a 67% on Rotten Tomatoes, as
well as a "B-" CinemaScore), which may not move
the needle for ticket sales while it's playing
simultaneously on a streaming service at no
extra charge.
"Right now, if you're under 35 and going to the
movies, your first choice is 'Spider-Man,' and
your second choice is seeing 'Spider-Man'
again," says David A. Gross, who runs the movie
consulting firm Franchise Entertainment
Research. "You can watch 'The Matrix' later with
someone who has HBO. That's how it is when a
single movie is dominating the market the way
'Spider-Man' is."
Another newcomer, Disney and 20th Century's "The
King's Man" finished in fourth place, amassing a
paltry $6.3 million from 3,180 screens over the
weekend and $10 million since opening on
Wednesday. Internationally, the prequel in "The
Kingsman" action franchise didn't make up much
ground. The oft-delayed spy comedy, starring
Ralph Fiennes, nabbed only $6.9 million from
seven overseas markets for a global tally of
$16.9 million.
At the domestic box office, "The King's Man"
beat Lionsgate's real-life sports drama
"American Underdog" by a hair. In fifth place,
"American Underdog" captured $6.2 million from
2,813 locations since opening on Christmas Day.
The crowd-pleasing film about rags-to-riches
quarterback Kurt Warner (played by Zachary Levi)
has been embraced by moviegoers, who gave it an
"A+" CinemaScore and 98% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Unfortunately, the movie hasn't been high on
audience's radars and could get sacked by
competitors over the busy holiday stretch.
Strong reviews didn't do much to boost Disney's
big-budget "West Side Story" remake, which
landed at No. 6 in its third weekend of release
while bringing in $2.8 million from 2,810
venues. The Steven Spielberg-directed musical
has generated $23.9 million domestically since
opening earlier in December. The song-and-dance
property has also had a slow go at it overseas,
grossing only $12.7 million from 46
international territories so far. Globally, the
$100 million-budgeted "West Side Story" has
earned only $36.6 million.
After four weeks in limited release, director
Paul Thomas Anderson's coming-of-age comedic
drama "Licorice Pizza" expanded to 786 North
American theaters on Christmas Day and collected
$2.32 million on Saturday and Sunday, enough for
seventh place. To date, the MGM film and awards
season hopeful has generated $3.6 million
domestically.
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