‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Becomes Sixth-Highest Grossing Movie in History
Variety.com: Add another notch on “Spider-Man: No Way Home’s” long list of box office achievements.
Over the weekend, Sony’s comic book adventure became the sixth-highest grossing movie in history with $1.69 billion at the worldwide box office (not adjusted for inflation). It passed “Jurassic World” ($1.67 billion) and “The Lion King” ($1.66 billion) to secure that spot.
Despite concerns about COVID-19, specifically its more transmissible omicron variant, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has stayed a box office force across the globe. The movie has been so popular, “Saturday Night Live” poked fun in a skit with President Biden (portrayed by James Austin Johnson) practically begging people to stop seeing “Spider-Man” in order to curb the virus.
Spidey’s next box office challengers may be harder to surpass. That’s because spots one through five on all-time box office charts, consisting of “Avatar,” “Avengers: Endgame,” “Titanic,” “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Avengers: Infinity War,” have each cracked $2 billion. Without China, it may be unrealistic for “No Way Home” to reach that benchmark.
Still, given its box office prowess, it would be unwise to count out Peter Parker. Now in its sixth weekend of release, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” returned to the No. 1 slot in North America, adding $14.1 million between Friday and Sunday, along with $27.7 million overseas. The superhero epic, starring Tom Holland as Marvel’s neighborhood web-slinger, opened in December and has generated $721 million at the domestic box office and $970.1 million internationally.
Outside of the United States, where “No Way Home” ranks as the fourth-biggest movie ever, Spidey’s latest adventure has done especially well in the U.K. — Holland’s birthplace — amassing $116 million to date. Other top-earning territories include Mexico with $73.4 million, South Korea with $60.6 million and France with $59.9 million. It’s notable that “No Way Home” has managed to shatter records and smash expectations without playing in China, which is the world’s biggest moviegoing market.
Elsewhere at the international box office, Universal’s animated musical comedy “Sing 2” brought in $12.8 million from 59 overseas territories. The family-friendly film, which opened around Christmas, has generated $112 million internationally and $241 million globally. Those ticket sales are far less than 2016’s “Sing,” which made $634 million worldwide. But in COVID times, it’s actually the highest-grossing animated film of the pandemic. “Sing 2” surpassed Disney’s “Encanto” ($223 million) and Universal’s “Croods: A New Age” ($227 million) to reach that milestone.
Paramount’s slasher sequel “Scream” managed to scare up crowds as well, collecting $10.2 million from 54 overseas markets. So far, the movie has earned $33.6 million at the international box office and $51 million in North America, which is a pretty good result given its $25 million price tag.