“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Swings To Record Opening Weekend

Update: Spider-Man: No Way Home soared to a massive $260 million U.S. opening this weekend, and a stunning $587.2 million globally. Director Jon Watts and star Tom Holland’s third film together is now the second-biggest domestic debut of all time (it was third when we first published this piece), behind only Avengers: Endgame ($357 million) and having just nudged past Avengers: Infinity War ($257.6m). These are numbers that are in line with pre-pandemic moviegoing, with the public’s appetite for Spidey so great not even the new omicron variant could keep audiences away.

The multiverse spanning epic that features villains from Spider-Man movies past (like Willem Dafoe’s Green Goblin and Alfred Molina Doc Ock, both from director Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2, respectively) played on 4,336 theaters this weekend. No Way Home also made history abroad, where that $587.2 million haul came without China.

“This weekend’s historic results, from all over the world and in the face of many challenges, reaffirm the unmatched cultural impact that exclusive theatrical films can have when they are made and marketed with vision and resolve,” says Sony Motion Picture Group chair-CEO Tom Rothman in a statement. Rothman has held fast to the exclusive theatrical release strategy, with No Way Home currently only available in theaters.

No Way Home has become the first film in the pandemic era to pass $100 million in its domestic opening weekend and has already surpassed Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ entire domestic haul. No Way Home was boosted by great reviews, including an A+ CinemaScore.

The action in No Way Home involves not only Spidey and those villains from the past, but also Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange and Spider-Man veterans Zendaya, as MJ, Jacob Batalon, as Peter Parker’s best buddy Ned, and Marisa Tomei, as Aunt May.

For more on Spider-Man: No Way Home, check out these stories:

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Co-Writers Talk Villains, Peter Parker & Changing the Script

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” & The Character Sharing Deal That Lets Spidey Swing From Sony to Marvel

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Review Round-Up: Most Thrilling Marvel Film Since “Avengers: Endgame”

New “Spider-Man: No Way Home” Footage Gives Glimpse of Green Goblin’s New Suit

Featured image: Tom Holland is Spider-Man and Zendaya is MJ in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Courtesy Sony Pictures.