Tom Holland stars as Spider-Man in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”
Sony
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” is already setting box office records.
The Sony and Marvel Studios film tallied $50 million in ticket sales from Thursday previews. Not only is this haul a pandemic-era best, it is the third-highest in cinematic history behind “Avengers: Endgame” ($60 million) and “Stars Wars: The Force Awakens” ($57 million).
“This is a monumental debut,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Cinemark said it had its biggest U.S. box office opening night of all time because of “No Way Home” and ticket seller Fandango noted that “No Way Home” set the record for top ticket-seller of the year in addition to being the best seller for Thursday previews since “Avengers: Endgame.”
Box office analysts were already certain that “No Way Home” would easily surpass $100 million at the domestically during its opening weekend, but Thursday’s haul has many reconsidering how high Spider-Man can swing.
Sony’s projections were for the film to reach $130 million, but many find that estimate to be far too conservative. Expectations are now being raised to around $200 million, as analysts foresee strong word of mouth sending more audiences to cinemas this weekend as well as repeat viewings.
Critics have favorably reviewed Tom Holland’s third solo Spider-Man film, calling it a “celebration of Spidey fandom.”
“Everyone who thought the movie theater wouldn’t return … just didn’t understand the power of a movie and a character like Spider-Man to bring passionate movie fans to the multiplex,” Dergarabedian said.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal owns Fandango.
