\u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home\u201d annihilated expectations in its box office debut, capturing a towering $260 million over the weekend.<\/p>\n
How mighty were initial ticket sales? The comic book adventure, featuring\u00a0Tom Holland\u00a0as\u00a0Marvel\u2019s web-slinging hero, has generated more money in a single weekend than any other pandemic-era movie has managed to earn in its entire theatrical run \u2014 and that\u2019s despite growing concerns about the Omicron variant of COVID-19.<\/p>\n
Directed by Jon Watts, \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home\u201d now ranks as the second-biggest domestic debut in box office history. Only one movie, Disney\u2019s epic Marvel mashup \u201cAvengers: Endgame,\u201d which amassed a historic $357 million to start, has grossed more in a single weekend. Box office experts believe \u201cNo Way Home\u201d could be the first movie since \u201cStar Wars: Rise of Skywalker\u201d in December 2019 to surpass $1 billion globally.<\/p>\n
Demand was sky-high to watch the newest Spidey adventure in theaters because \u201cNo Way Home\u201d promised a crossover event of legendary proportions. The third chapter in Holland\u2019s trilogy takes place after Peter Parker\u2019s identity is revealed to the world, igniting global chaos and \u2014 most importantly to Peter \u2014 causing in his best buds MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) to get rejected from MIT. Being framed for murder is one thing, but preventing your friends from getting into college? Well, that\u2019s too far for Marvel\u2019s teen web-slinger. Desperate to restore a drop of normalcy, Peter asks for help from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), whose spell goes wrong and yada yada yada, Spider-Man is suddenly face to face with villains from past Peter Parker timelines, including Willem Dafoe\u2019s Green Goblin, Jamie Foxx\u2019s Electro and Alfred Molina\u2019s Doctor Otto Octavius. C\u2019mon, don\u2019t you, too, need to know how the late, great Norman Osborn would fare when facing off Hollywood\u2019s most popular power couple, Zendaya and Holland?<\/p>\n
Well, plenty of moviegoers did.<\/p>\n
Below,\u00a0Variety<\/em>\u00a0has compiled a list of box office benchmarks \u2014 pandemic and non \u2014 established by \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home.\u201d<\/p>\n Second-biggest domestic opening weekend in history<\/strong><\/p>\n Box office experts would have been impressed if \u201cNo Way Home\u201d cracked $100 million in its debut. It\u2019s a feat that not a single COVID-era release has been able to accomplish. The superhero adventure put projections to shame, blowing past \u201cAvengers: Infinity War\u201d (which webbed up $257 million in pre-pandemic times) to land as the second-largest opening weekend ever. Bow down to Peter Parker.<\/p>\n Third-largest global debut ever<\/strong><\/p>\n With final tallies reaching $600 million worldwide, \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home\u201d ranks as the third-biggest worldwide debut of all time behind \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d ($1.2 billion) and \u201cAvengers: Infinity War\u201d ($640 million). Notably, the top two films opened in China, which is currently the world\u2019s biggest moviegoing market, while \u201cNo Way Home\u201d has yet to secure a release date there.<\/p>\n Best start in the \u201cSpider-Man\u201d franchise\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n \n \u201cNo Way Home\u201d newly supplants Tobey Maguire\u2019s 2007 adventure \u201cSpider-Man 3,\u201d with $151 million (not adjusted for inflation), as the biggest Spider-Man opening weekend in history. That level of staying power is considerable because the character \u2014 previously portrayed by Maguire and Andrew Garfield \u2014 has appeared in eight standalone, live-action films in the past 19 years, in addition to several Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover events, such as \u201cAvengers: Infinity War\u201d and \u201cEndgame.\u201d<\/p>\n Second-highest opening day ever<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cNo Way Home\u201d managed to rake in $121 million on Friday, cementing the film the second-largest single day earner behind, what else? \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d ($157 million). It\u2019s a mind-boggling feat, especially given COVID-19 and such. To put those results in perspective, \u201cNo Way Home\u201d sold more tickets on Friday alone than 2017\u2019s \u201cHomecoming ($117 million debut) and 2019\u2019s \u201cFar From Home\u201d ($92 million debut) did in their respective opening weekends. No offense to Quentin Beck or Vulture, but Holland\u2019s former foes weren\u2019t half as enticing as Maguire or Garfield\u2019s enemies.<\/p>\n Top global opening weekend for\u00a0Sony\u00a0Pictures<\/strong><\/p>\n Along with the top \u201cSpider-Man\u201d entry, \u201cSpider-Man 3\u201d also previously stood as Sony\u2019s biggest opening weekend with $381 million worldwide. As if it weren\u2019t already clear, audiences dig Holland\u2019s take on Queens\u2019 finest vigilante.<\/p>\n Biggest December debut<\/strong><\/p>\n The final month of the year is usually rife with blockbusters, and \u201cNo Way Home\u201d still managed to crush tallies for previous December releases. With $600 million globally, Spidey surpassed 2015\u2019s \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens\u201d ($529 million globally) as the top start for December. Ewoks, who?<\/p>\n Imax\u2019s biggest weekend since 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n A huge $36.2 million of global ticket sales came from Imax screens. It\u2019s the largest haul for the premium large format screen since \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d with $91 million, as well as the company\u2019s sixth biggest global weekend ever.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Spider-Man: No Way Home\u2019 is an exclamation point on the comeback we\u2019ve seen at the box office in 2021, and an emphatic reminder of the unique power of the theatrical experience \u2014 especially Imax \u2014 to unite audiences worldwide in a global event,\u201d said Rich Gelfond, CEO of Imax.<\/p>\n AMC Theatres\u2019 biggest December opening of all time and best post-reopening domestic attendance<\/strong><\/p>\n AMC Theatres, the world\u2019s biggest exhibition chain, sold a record 7 million tickets over the weekend while notching several company benchmarks in the process, including the biggest December opening of all time and post-reopening domestic attendance records. AMC says that for the first time since December 2019, when \u201cStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker\u201d hit the big screen, the movie theater chain has sold at least 1 million tickets each day between Thursday and Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cHistorically, December is one of the biggest months of the year for major blockbuster releases, so to see \u2018Spider-Man: No Way Home\u2019 set a new all-time opening weekend box office record this month is significant not just for AMC, but for the entire theatrical industry,\u201d said Adam Aron, AMC\u2019s chairman and CEO.<\/p>\n Cinemark\u2019s second-biggest opening in history<\/strong><\/p>\n At Cinemark, another major movie chain, \u201cNo Way Home\u201d ranked behind \u201cAvengers: Endgame\u201d as the company\u2019s biggest ticket-seller.<\/p>\n \u201cSpider-Man fans proved they are some of the most enthusiastic moviegoers with their record-breaking support of the film\u2019s debut around the world, making this live-action multiverse an international sensation that must be seen on the big screen,\u201d said Justin McDaniel, Cinemark\u2019s senior VP of global content.<\/p>\n