‘Spider-Man’ Passes $700 Million Domestic And $1.6 Billion Worldwide

Spider-Man: No Way Home earned another $20.8 million (-36%) in its fifth Fri-Sun weekend, bringing its 31-day total to $698.7 million in North America alone. With a $26 million Fri-Mon MLK weekend, it will pass Black Panther ($700 million) sometime tomorrow to end its 32nd day as the fourth-biggest domestic earner of all time. It dropped to second place in weekend five, as did The Force Awakens in its day (against the $41 million Fri-Mon debut of Ride Along 2) as they can’t all be Avatar. Avatar earned $54 million over the holiday weekend against the $38 million MLK debut of Denzel Washington’s The Book of Eli in 2010. Remember when a mid-level franchise title earning around $40 million over the first big holiday weekend was business as usual instead of an industry-saving miracle? 

Marvel and Sony’s MCU superhero sequel will have around $704 million as of tomorrow night. Once the Tom Holland/Zendaya superhero actioner tops the inflation-adjusted grosses of Black Panther ($715 million) and The Avengers ($623 million in 2012 and $720 million adjusted), it’ll be Marvel’s second-biggest tickets-sold offering ever in the same year (2021) during which Eternals sold fewer domestic tickets than The Incredible Hulk ($132 million in 2008/$171 million adjusted). It has already sold more tickets than The Dark Knight ($532 million in 2008/$697 million adjusted) and Thunderball ($65 million in 1965/$700 million adjusted). Once it passes $725 million, it be behind Avatar ($760 million), Wolf Warrior II ($854 million in China), Avengers: Endgame ($854 million), The Battle at Lake Changjin ($905 million in China) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($937 million) among all single territory cumes. 

Once it passes Black Panther ($715 million adjusted), Jurassic World ($652 million in 2015/$719 million adjusted) and The Avengers ($623 million in 2012/$720 million adjusted), it’ll be the ninth-biggest tickets-sold movie since Jurassic Park in 1993. A 35% fifth-weekend drop is better than the respective drops for all four December Star Wars movies, Aquaman, Tron: Legacy and the last two Hobbit movies, while taking a slightly bigger drop than The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. If it plays like The Force Awakens, Tron: Legacy and Aquaman, it’ll end with over/under $765 million. Comps to the Hobbit prequel sequels, Tron: Legacy, Rogue One, Last Jedi and Rise of Skywalker get it to $720-$745 million. If it legs like Two Towers and Return of the King (highly unlikely), it’ll end over/under $800 million. 

No Way Home is the only biggie around in a year with no 1917 or La La Land-style breakout Oscar contenders. It’s now obvious Sony pushed Morbius not due to Covid but to give No Way Home more breathing room (and because April 1 is a better date than January 28). Meanwhile, its overseas might is uncontested, with a current global cume as of Sunday at $1.625 billion. That includes a whopping $926 million in overseas grosses, without a penny from China. It’s now the biggest movie ever, with $72 million, in Mexico. It’s currently behind (for the next week anyway) only The Lion King ($1.66 billion), Jurassic World ($1.67 billion), Avengers: Infinity War ($2.048 billion), Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($2.068 billion), Titanic ($2.2 billion), Avengers: Endgame ($2.79 billion) and Avatar. We’re probably looking at a $1.74 billion finish.