‘Spider-Man’ passes $1 billion mark globally

Peter Parker’s good fortune continued over the holiday weekend as Hollywood prepares to close the books on a turbulent 2021. Even with some mighty competition from new “Matrix” and “Sing” movies, and rising concerns over the omicron variant, “SpiderMan: No Way Home” stayed in the No. 1 spot and netted a few more milestones too including crossing the $1 billion mark globally.

According to studio estimates Sunday “Spider-Man” added $81.5 million over the three-day weekend, down 69 percent from its first weekend. The Sony and Marvel film has grossed $467 million from North American theaters, more than doubling the domestic grosses of 2021’s previous No. 1 film, “ShangChi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”

With $587.1 million from 61 overseas markets, in just 12 days of release, “SpiderMan”has grossed $1.05 billion globally. It’s the first film of the pandemic to cross $1 billion.

Universal’s “Sing 2” came in second place with an estimated $23.8 million, while Warner Bros.’ “The Matrix Resurrections” grossed $12 million to take third place.

The animated musical “Sing 2” features high-profile celebrity talent including Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon and Bono, as well as a jukebox soundtrack full of well-known hits. Since its release Wednesday, it’s made $41 million ($1.6 million of that came from Thanksgiving weekend showings) from North America and $65 million worldwide.

The fourth “Matrix” also opened on Wednesday and has earned an estimated $22.5 million in its first five days in North America. The film, directed by Lana Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves and CarrieAnne Moss, is streaming on HBO Max as well.

“The Matrix Resurrections” is the last of the 18 Warner Bros. films released in 2021 to debut both in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. Starting in 2022, the studio will have a 45-day exclusive theatrical window on their films.

In fourth place was Disney and 20th Century’s “The King’s Man,” a prequel to the action-comedy “Kingsman” series starring Ralph Fiennes. It came in slightly under expectations with $6.4 million from the weekend and $10 million from its first five days.

With just a few days left in 2021, the North American box office is currently sitting at $4.3 billion and is likely to net out around $4.4 billion. Pre-pandemic, it was normal for a year’s box office to surpass $11 billion.