Spider-Man: No Way Home grosses $587.2m to become third biggest movie opener in history

Spider-Man: No Way Home broke pandemic box office records this weekend, opening with an estimated $253 million in ticket sales in the US alone.

This makes the much-anticipated Marvel showcase the highest film debut of 2021 and the third-best opening of all time, behind “Avengers: Endgame” and “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Avengers: Endgame is the highest-grossing film opening of all time with $357.1 million, followed by Infinity War, which opened with $257.6 million in 2018, according to data from Comscore.

“Spider No Way Home” is now the highest-grossing movie of the pandemic era, surpassing the $224.5 million that Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has earned since it hit theatres in September.

Internationally, “Spider-man No Way Home” scored $334.2 million from 60 overseas markets, leading to a $587.2 million global haul, the third-highest worldwide opening of all time.

“This weekend’s historic ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home‘ results, from all over the world and in the face of many challenges, reaffirm the unmatched cultural impact that exclusive theatrical films can have,” Tom Rothman, the chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s Motion Picture Group, said in a statement.

This number is set to increase as moviegoers are expected to see the film multiple times, leading to more ticket sales.

Prior to this movie, no other Covid-era film had been able to cross even USD 100 million in a single weekend. The biggest debut previously belonged to another of Sony’s comic book sequels, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage“, which generated $90 million in its initial release. Marvel’s “Black Widow” opened with $80 million back in May.

No Way Home is the third installment in the series of Spider-Man films starring Tom Holland and Zendaya. The series is a collaboration between the Disney-owned powerhouse Marvel Studios and Sony, which owns film rights to the character.

Impact of covid 19 on cinema

The cinema industry took a massive hit during the pandemic — global theatrical revenue in the U.S. fell from $42.3 billion in 2019 to just $12 billion in 2020.

The pandemic was responsible for the uptake in movie streaming platforms as people turned to them during the closure of cinemas.

Although “Spider-man No Way Home” has achieved a feat no other movie has managed during the pandemic, there are still concerns that it might not reach its full potential due to the covid omicron variant.

The omicron variant has led to an increase in Covid-19 cases, even among those who are fully vaccinated.

It remains to be seen whether Spider-man: No Way Home can break more records as audiences over age 25 are generally warier of Covid infection and perfectly content to stream films at home.