MONDAY UPDATE, with actuals: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home became the third biggest global opener of all time this weekend, now with a confirmed $600.8M through Sunday, versus yesterday’s estimate of $587.2M. Crossing the $600M mark makes it only the third film ever to the milestone in a launch frame. The Jon Watts-directed MCU entry is the No. 6 movie of 2021 worldwide (No. 3 for the studios) just from its debut and overtaking all other Marvel pics this year. Topping $600M at open is even more impressive as NWH did it without China, only the second film ever to the six-century mark sans that giant market.
For Sony, this is the biggest opening weekend, ever.
The nearly $14M increase over Sunday’s global estimates (see Sunday update below) came in part from domestic which, as Anthony reported, soared to $260M when tallying up. Offshore, there were notable bumps in the actuals for the UK, Mexico, France, Brazil and Russia.
At the international box office, No Way Home snared $340.8M, bigger than yesterday’s $334.2M estimate. This is the fourth best overseas launch ever (unadjusted) and comes from from 60 markets across five days, landing NWH at No. 7 for the year so far among all titles, and No. 4 for Hollywood.
In all, the following overseas hubs had their biggest launches ever: Mexico ($33.3M), Brazil ($18.6M), Argentina ($7.1M), Saudi Arabia ($5.1M), Ecuador ($3.8M), Ukraine ($2.5M) and Turkey ($1.5M).
The Top 10 market cumes now line up thusly: UK ($42.3M), Mexico ($33.3M), Korea ($23.6M), France ($19.2M), Australia ($18.8M), Brazil ($18.6M), India ($18.2M), Russia ($17.9M), Italy ($13M) and Germany ($11.4M).
No Way Home‘s overseas start is now 80% over Spider-Man: Far From Home, 141% above Spider-Man: Homecoming, 209% ahead of Venom: Let There Be Carnage, 180% higher than No Time To Die and 228% over F9.
For a look at how the international and global rollout snowballed throughout the weekend, click here, and see below for Sunday’s initial reporting.
PREVIOUS, SUNDAY UPDATE: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home has become the third biggest global opener of all time with $587.2M. Crossing the $500M mark makes it only the sixth film ever to the milestone in a launch frame. The Jon Watts-directed MCU entry instantly becomes the No. 6 movie of 2021 worldwide (No. 3 for the studios), overtaking all other Marvel pics this year. Topping $500M at open is even more impressive as NWH did it without China, only the third film ever to the five-century mark sans that giant market.
For Sony, this is the biggest opening weekend, ever.
At the international box office, No Way Home grossed $334.2M from 60 markets across five days, landing at No. 7 for the year so far among all titles, and No. 4 for Hollywood.
In like-for-like overseas markets at current exchange rates, the pic’s opening weekend surpasses Spider-Man: Far From Home by 72%, Spider-Man: Homecoming by 113%, Venom: Let There Be Carnage by 183%, No Time To Die by 113%, and F9 by 210%.
Peter Parker and his friends and foes bolted out of the gate on Wednesday overseas, rolling into a total of 60 markets through Friday. Ultimately, the film blasted past industry projections. Last week, we said a $290M global start was the floor for this much-anticipated film. Given conditions overseas, including curfews that came into play over the weekend and some market closures, it was necessary to be prudent with expectations. A phenomenon like this doesn’t come around often, and less so during these past nearly two years of a pandemic; with so much in flux, Sony’s offshore distribution team deserves a special shout-out.
Word of mouth is platinum with all markets responding positively to the Tom Holland/Zendaya/Benedict Cumberbatch-starrer that brings back such characters as Electro, Doc Ock and Green Goblin. And in those places were restrictions have been added, moviegoers found a way to see Spidey regardless — in some cases with cinemas opening in the early morning hours to accommodate demand.
The UK led all play with $41.4M for the fourth highest opening of all time. This was followed by Mexico at $32.4M to rank as the biggest opening of all time. In Korea, where a curfew was introduced on Saturday, the gross was $23.7M. Australia snagged $18.7M, for the third-biggest opening ever, while India was just huge with $18.2M, which is the No. 2 opening weekend in the market for a Hollywood film.
Elsewhere, Brazil saw the second-best bow ever with $17.9M, followed by France at $17.8M, Russia with $17.4M, Italy at $13M and Germany with $11.4M. Spain launched to $10.4M, the market’s third biggest of bow of all time.
Seeing best-ever starts were Argentina and Saudi Arabia with $6.8M and 5.2M, respectively, as well as Ecuador ($3.7M), Ukraine ($2.4M), Turkey ($1.4M) and Egypt ($1.3M).
Other notable bows include Indonesia ($8.2M), Taiwan ($7.3M), Hong Kong ($6.3M), Malaysia ($5.1M), the UAE ($4.1M), Israel ($2.7M) and New Zealand ($2.3M).
As noted earlier, China is not yet dated while upcoming releases include Thailand on December 23, followed by Japan (a big Spidey market) on January 7 and Norway on January 14.
In IMAX, NWH broke several records and grossed $36.2M globally. This reps Sony’s best start in the format ever, and the biggest IMAX launch since April 2019. Internationally, the take was $14.2M with 15 markets posting the top IMAX opening weekend ever, including Mexico, India, Italy, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. This was also the biggest IMAX debut for Sony in 50 markets including the UK, Russia, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, UAE, and Saudi Arabia.
In other international play, Warner Bros debuted The Matrix Resurrections early in a handful of markets with $9.2M from Russia, Japan, Thailand and four smaller hubs. In like-for-likes, this is 8% above Eternals and 12% over Tenet. Russia opened to $3.9M, landing No. 2 behind Spider-Man. Japan’s was a No. 1 opening, also at $3.9M, tracking ahead of Eternals, Black Widow, Shang-Chi and Dune. Thailand grossed $794K for the top spot and the third-best start of 2021, well ahead of such pandemic releases as Venom, Dune, No Time To Die and Black Widow. The coming week will see 69 offshore markets added.
Disney’s Encanto dropped by 46% in its third frame, grossing an additional $7.9M from 47 markets. The offshore cume is now $94M with $175.5M globally. In Colombia, Encanto is the second biggest animated release ever. It was No. 2 in Brazil and Mexico this session, along with several others. Overall play is led by France ($11.3M), Colombia ($9M), the UK ($6.3M), Spain ($6.2M) and Japan ($5.4M).
In milestones, House Of Gucci crossed $100M worldwide this session, while Venom 2 gets closer to $500M and Eternals is thisclose to $400M.
House Of Gucci (UNI/MGM): $4.1M intl weekend (41 Uni markets); $61.3M intl cume/$106.1M global
Clifford The Big Red Dog (PAR): $3.6M intl weekend (41 markets); $19.4M intl cume/$68M global
West Side Story (DIS): $2.1M intl weekend (47 markets); $9.1M intl cume/$27.1M global
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (SNY): $2M intl weekend (57 markets); $285.7M intl cume/$498.1M global
Ghostbusters: Afterlife (SNY): $1.8M intl weekend (53 markets); $56.4M intl cume/$173.6M global
The Boss Baby: Family Business (UNI): $1.7M intl weekend (65 markets); $89.4M intl cume/$146.7M global
Sing 2 (UNI): $1.5M intl weekend (16 markets); $4.83M intl cume
No Time To Die (UNI/MGM): $1.2M intl weekend (73 Uni markets); $613M intl cume/$774M global
Dune (WB): $1.1M intl weekend; $286.3M intl cume/$393.2M global
Eternals (DIS): $700K intl weekend (43 markets); $236.1M intl cume/$399.7M global
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