Spider-Man continues lifting an anaemic US box office
After rescuing Hollywood from otherwise paltry year-end numbers, Spider-Man: No Way Home continued to soar this weekend, leading the North American box office with an estimated take of US$33 million (1.1 billion baht), industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.
Sony’s superhero sequel has now accumulated worldwide ticket sales of $1.42 billion in four weeks out, helping brighten a mostly pallid picture for the Covid-slammed industry. Its domestic gross of $669 million places it sixth all-time, surpassing Titanic and Jurassic World.
The domestic box office in November and December was down 32% from the 2019 period, said David Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. He described the industry’s overall picture as “mostly wreckage” — except for Spider-Man, whose earnings accounted for 46% of the total.
With Covid-19 surging, older moviegoers and families remain hesitant to return to theatres.
So even the results of Universal’s animated musical Sing 2 — second for the weekend at $12 million — were considered disappointing. Its worldwide take is down 68% from Sing 1, Gross said, whereas such second-episode animation sequels generally drop just 8%.
Also seen as disappointing were the results for Universal’s new The 355, which placed third but took in just $4.8 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period.
Analysts said the female-led spy thriller — starring Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz and Lupita Nyong’o — suffered from weak reviews and continuing hesitation by older female moviegoers.
The fourth spot went to 20th Century’s The King’s Man, at $3.3 million. The Kingsman prequel stars Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans and Matthew Goode.
In fifth was American Underdog from Lionsgate, at $2.4 million. Zachary Levi stars in the crowd-pleasing true story of Kurt Warner, the onetime grocery store worker who became a National Football League MVP. AFP
ROUNDING OUT THE TOP 10 WERE
The Matrix: Resurrections
($1.9 million)
West Side Story ($1.4 million)
Ghostbusters: Afterlife ($1.1 million)
Licorice Pizza ($1 million)
House Of Gucci ($632,000)