Tom Holland is in Spider-Man.
Sony.
Spider-Man: No Way Home did everything a spider could to destroy any preconceived notions about how much a major theatrical blockbuster could gross. The sequel earned $253 million in its debut weekend. The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and Rogue One all had a 2.08x increase from their Friday totals. It is the biggest-grossing domestic earner since Rise of Skywalker two years ago. Either this is going to be a super-spreader event, or it will provide definitive proof that moviegoing is no more dangerous than any other business activity.
Detective Chinatown 3 is the fourth-biggest opening weekend in history with $388 million in China. It's behind only The Force Awakens and Avengers 4 in terms of inflation. It earned more in three days than Black Panther did in four days, while out-grossing the other two. Spider-Man: Far from Home was the highest grossing film of the long Independence Day weekend, with a gross of $85 million. What went wrong for the Sony/Marvel co-production? Isn't that the question of the day, and everyone's favorite deleted scene from The Amazing Spider-Man 2?
Spider-Man is the most popular comic book superhero. There are times when Superman is buzzier, Wonder Woman is defining the culture or Batman is cooler. Spider-Man is the favorite. Spider-Man was the first $100 million-plus opener and Spider-Man 3 was the first $150 million debut. The Spider-Man series made $760 million in 2012 and $705 million in the year of 2015. They cost way too much and were marketed like Batman Begins and Sony's own Avenger's-style launching pad. I don't know if the third Spider-Man movie would have been a success if it had a $175 million budget.
Multi-GenerationalNostalgia is the key to this blow-out weekend, beyond the popularity of Spider-Man and the dominance of the MCU. When you have a property that appeals to multiple generations and is embraced/discovered in different eras, you can score a lot. Beauty and the Beast had fans of the 1991 Disney toon and the Harry Potter films, while it had fans of the Stephen King book and the 1990 ABC miniseries, which both were discovered by potential moviegoers at different points in their lives. Spider-Man: No Way Home used nostalgia for the Sam Raimi blockbusters and also for the Marc WEBB films.
The return of five villains and their original actors from previous Sony Spider-Man franchises was revealed by Sony, but they did not reveal whether Toby Maguire and Andrew Garfield would show up as well. The film succeeds in being a stand-alone blockbuster adventure that you don't need to see any of the other MCU or Spider-Man movies to enjoy, while offering plenty of treats for the hardcore fan base. Spider-Man: No Way Home is mostly a passion play for Tom Holland's iteration of Spider-Man, unlike Batman v Superman and The Rise of Skywalker.
The Fast Saga and the Raimi series were Sony's worst mistakes, and they tried to turn the Spider-Man into their own MCU. We have had a lot of studio programmers dying at the box office. Audiences have chosen streaming for their casual entertainment and only go to theaters for tentpoles. A popcorn for Spider-Man 3 version 2.0 costs the same as one for Nightmare Alley and B) theaters were never going to survive if a movie like this couldn't pack in.
Spider-Man 3 version 2.0 is between $713 million and $737 million domestic, with solid reviews and an A+ Cinemascore. It is time for Battle at Lake Changjin and The Force Awakens to get a little nervous. No Way Home has a multiplier of 865 million, just below the other two movies, and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug has a multiplier of 58 million. There are no examples of big well-received tentpoles opening well in December and crashing. Spider-Man: No Way Home is expected to soar to the top.
The film earned $587 million worldwide, making it the third-biggest launch ever behind the last two Avengers movies. Far from Home made $199 million in 2019. No Way Home will be the first $1 billion grosser of the Pandemic Era, but will it be close to the other two blockbusters? The hope is that the boat that lifts all tides is the one that was hit. It would be a Christmas miracle if there was room for more than just the web-slinger at this season's global box office.
