Within three days of its release, Tom Holland-starrer ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ has already become the highest-grossing film of 2020 and 2021. The film, also starring Zendaya and Benedict Cumberbatch, surpassed even the most optimistic projections when it generated USD 253 million (Rs 1,927 crore) from 4,336 theatres in North America.
Reporting the development, ‘Variety’ said: “It was easily the best domestic opening weekend turnout of any movie in pandemic times. Prior to this weekend, no other Covid-era film had been able to cross even USD 100 million in a single weekend.”
The biggest domestic debut, according to ‘Variety’, previously belonged to another of Sony’s comic book sequels, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”, which generated USD 90 million in its initial release. In India, Spider-Man: No Way Home has been giving tough competition to homegrown production Pushpa: The Rise. The film collected Rs 32.67 crore on its opening day in India. It had not only beaten Akshay Kumar’s Sooryavanshi’s opening box office collection of Rs 26.29 crore to record the biggest opener of the year but also recorded the biggest opening day collection for a Hollywood film since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, in India.
Overseas, the latest Spidey outing — and the 27th addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — has raked in USD 334.2 million from 60 international markets for a global tally of USD 587.2 million, making it the third-biggest worldwide opening weekend ever.
It stands behind Disney’s “Avengers: Endgame”, which collected a historic USD 357 million in its 2018 debut, and 2017’s “Avengers: Infinity War” (USD 257 million debut) to land the third-best opening weekend in history. Counting “No Way Home”, only eight films have ever crossed $200 million in ticket sales in a single weekend.
Directed by Jon Watts, Spider-Man: No Way Home marks the return of Holland as the titular web-slinger after playing the character in 2017’s ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’ and ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’ as well as three Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies.
In the new film, with Spider-Man’s identity now revealed, Peter asks Doctor Strange for help. When a spell goes wrong, dangerous foes from other worlds start to appear, forcing Peter to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man. The film also features appearances from Zendaya as MJ, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds and Marisa Tomei as Aunt May.
