In an updated box office report, Spider-Man: Far From Home left off, with Peter being revealed as Spider-Man to the entire world. Desperate to recover his anonymity, Peter turns to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) for a spell that can reverse what happened. When it goes horribly awry, Peter must contend with a host of villains from alternate universes who all have one common enemy: Peter Parker.
Ahead of its release, Spider-Man: No Way Home was easily the buzziest film of the year. Fans were taken with the multiversal premise that allowed for previous franchise actors like Alfred Molina and Willem Dafoe to the MCU, and Holland's Peter remains one of the most beloved. Still, few were likely prepared for just how big No Way Home would get in its first weekend. Sunday numbers had Spider-Man: No Way Home coming in as the third-highest opening of all time with $253 million, but that has changed with the final count.
According to a new update from Sony, Spider-Man: No Way Home earned $260 million domestically in its first weekend across 4,336 locations. This makes it the second-highest opening weekend of all time, beating Avengers: Endgame. Breaking it down day by day, No Way Home earned $121.925 million on Friday, $73.9 million on Saturday, and $64.175 on Sunday. This is the biggest opening for any Spider-Man movie, for the entirety of Sony, and for the entire month of December.
Spider-Man: No Way Home's performance is especially impressive when considering the state of the coronavirus pandemic. For months, the domestic box office has made shaky steps toward normalcy, but the overall revenue for the year is still down sharply from 2019. Prior to No Way Home, no movie since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had opened to more than $100 million. Not only did Spider-Man: No Way Home beat that expectation, it managed to sur Infinity War, a movie that opened under very normal circumstances in 2018 and featured what was at the time the biggest MCU cast ever.
It'll be interesting to see how the film holds up in the coming weeks. The holiday season is often a lucrative time for movies, but the rise of the Omicron variant has also led to increased caution among audiences. Additionally, superhero movies can be notoriously frontloaded at the box office, and an opening like Spider-Man: No Way Home's indicates most die-hard fans have rushed out to see it as soon as possible. While many will likely want to put in repeat viewings, it can be assumed the overall size of No Way Home's audience will start to dip in the coming weeks. Nevertheless, this is a truly impressive showing for Spidey, and it restores some hope that movie theaters will come back in earnest following the pandemic.
Source: Sony
