Though there were fears that the latest Covid wave would keep audiences away from cinemas, Spider-Man: No Way Home more than proved that the power of the MCU (and in this case, the character-sharing deal) is never to be underestimated. The latest outing for Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and co. earned a huge $253 million in the States and a whopping $587 million around the world.
That marks the best Stateside box office opening by a film during the pandemic by a wide margin, and means No Way Home is already close to the top of the charts, second only to a little movie called Avengers: Endgame and, internationally, third behind that and Avengers: Infinity War.
Elsewhere in the world, the tally was $334.2 million, for that mammoth global opening. "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 when they are made and marketed with vision and resolve," Sony chairman Tom Rothman said in a statement, which almost sounds like a sly dig at Disney's theatrical/streaming plans.
The news was not as good for another new release – Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley launched to a muted $3 million for a fifth place slot in the charts behind the likes of Encanto, West Side Story and Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which have all been out for at least a couple of weeks.