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The comic book sequel, starring Tom Holland as
Marvel's favorite neighborhood web-slinger, towered over
domestic box office charts for the third weekend in a row. "No
Way Home" captured $52.7 million over the New Year's holiday
frame, boosting its domestic tally to $609 million. It extends
an epic streak for the latest Spidey adventure, which continues
to deliver the kind of ticket sales it would have been expected
to make in pre-pandemic times. No other blockbuster has been
able to come close to reaching similar box office heights, at
least in the U.S. and Canada. After "Spider-Man: No Way Home,"
the next highest-grossing tentpole of COVID-19 times is Disney
and Marvel's "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" with
$224 million domestically. Without any real competition until
Paramount's scary sequel "Scream," the fifth installment in the
slasher series, opens on Jan. 14, Holland's teen vigilante will
keep raking in the dough.
For non-superhero enthusiasts, or perhaps those who have already
seen "Spider-Man: No Way Home" in theaters more than once,
Universal and Illumination's animated musical comedy "Sing 2"
enjoyed another relatively strong weekend. The film, which
features an all-star voice cast of Matthew McConaughey, Reese
Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson and more, earned $19.6 million
from 3,892 cinemas between Friday and Sunday, down a scant 12%
from its debut. Since landing on the big screen in advance of
Christmas, the well-reviewed "Sing 2" has generated an
impressive (for pandemic times) $89.6 million. To illustrate the
headwinds still facing movies that aren't of the superhero
variety, the original 2016 film "Sing" sold far more tickets,
ultimately grossing $270 million stateside and $634 million
worldwide.
Elsewhere at the domestic box office, there was not much to...
sing about.
Disney and 20th Century's "The King's Man," a prequel in the
extended "Kingsmen" cinematic universe, landed in third place
with $4.5 million from 3,180 theaters. That's down only 24% from
inaugural weekend ticket sales, however, its box office receipts
weren't that strong to begin with. So far, the spy comedy has
picked up $19.5 million at the domestic box office.
Internationally, "The King's Man" added another $14.1 million
from 22 overseas markets, boosting its global total to just
$47.8 million.
At No. 4, Lionsgate's crowd-pleasing sports drama "American
Underdog" earned $3.9 million from 2,813 venues, pushing its
North American tally to $14.9 million. The inspirational film
about Kurt Warner's unlikely rise to become a two-time NFL
champion has been embraced by audiences (at least, those who
went to see the film), with an "A+" CinemaScore. Unfortunately,
high marks from moviegoers isn't translating into the kind of
word-of-mouth needed to sell tickets.
"The Matrix Resurrections" fell to fifth place, scraping
together $3.5 million from 3,552 locations over the weekend
while playing on HBO Max. That's a 67% decline from its opening,
by far the biggest dip in the top 15 on domestic box office
charts. The fourth "Matrix" movie, once again starring Keanu
Reeves as the sleek cybercriminal Neo and Carrie-Anne Moss as
Trinity, is the last Warner Bros. movie (for now) to premiere on
HBO Max on the same day as its theatrical debut. The studio's
strategy to put its entire 2021 slate concurrently on streaming
may have boosted awareness around HBO Max, which had a
lackluster launch in 2020, but it massively curbed ticket sales
for every movie that was released on the big screen.
Other notable releases in the top 10 include Disney's "West Side
Story," which pocketed $2.1 million from 2,690 venues. In total,
director Steven Spielberg's remake of the classic musical has
made only $29.6 million in North America and $47 million
worldwide, a disastrous result considering the acclaimed movie
cost $100 million to produce.
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