“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Swinging Towards History (And Past “Avatar”)

Spider-Man: No Way Home is swinging towards history. By this Tuesday, Sony and Marvel’s seemingly unstoppable mega-blockbuster should surpass James Cameron’s Avatar as the third highest-grossing film at the domestic box office in history. The villain-packed epic snared another $9.6 million this weekend to finish with $749 million in ticket sales. That means it’s less than $1 million away from swinging past Cameron’s Avatar original domestic haul of $749.8 million. Once that happens, No Way Home will be the third-highest-grossing film of all time, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($936.7 m) and Avengers: Endgame ($858.4 m).

You might be thinking, wait, wasn’t Avatar re-released and earned even more money? Yes, you’d be correct. Avatar hit the theaters again and ended up at $760.5 million domestically. Yet, procrastinators believe No Way Home will top that, too. Globally, however, Avatar will still reign supreme. The film earned an astonishing $2.86 billion worldwide, only giving up the title of highest-grossing international film of all time to Avengers: Endgame in 2018. Then Avatar was rereleased in China in March of 2021 and reclaimed its title.

Still, No Way Home has done remarkably well internationally, too, earning $1.77 billion to date. And that’s without playing in China. Also, the numbers for No Way Home are even more impressive when you consider unlike Avatar and Avengers: Endgame, Spidey’s epic adventure came during a global pandemic.

Needless to say, director Jon Watts, star Tom Holland, those villains, and those other helpful Spider-Men (Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield) have given the pandemic era its biggest, most successful film yet. Here’s hoping the next film to do this well is described as a “post-pandemic” blockbuster.

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

Tom Holland on His Spider-Man Future & One Very Intriguing Potential Crossover

Director Sam Raimi on Watching “Spider-Man: No Way Home” & the Status on His “Doctor Strange 2”

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” Almost Featured This Iconic Villain

How Andrew Garfield Kept His “Spider-Man: No Way Home” Secret Mostly Hidden

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

Featured image: Spider-Man (Tom Holland) in “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” Courtesy of Sony Pictures.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The Credits

The Credits is an online magazine that tells the story behind the story to celebrate our large and diverse creative community. Focusing on profiles of below-the-line filmmakers, The Credits celebrates the often uncelebrated individuals who are indispensable to the films and TV shows we love.