LOS ANGELES: Covid-schmovid: Sony and Marvel s new “Spider-Man: No Way Home” scored the third-biggest domestic opening of all time, taking in an estimated $253 million in its massive North American weekend opening.
Box office watchers are spinning hopeful predictions, with analysts eyeing it as the pandemic era s first potential billion-dollar-grossing film.
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Its box office sales trail only 2019 s “Avengers: Endgame” ($357 million) and the previous year s “Avengers: Infinity War” ($258 million), according to the BoxOfficeMojo website. “Spider-Man” easily surpassed early estimates of $130-150 million.
The new superhero blockbuster is well on its way to earning $600 million overseas, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. And this comes as theaters continue to battle their way back from months-long Covid-induced closures.
“This is an incredible opening,” David A. Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research, told AFP.
While most big series struggle to keep their momentum, he added, ” Spider-Man is exploding.”
Analysts, however, are warning that the industry s recovery still has a long way to go, especially amid fears of a new surge in coronavirus cases fueled by the Omicron variant.
