'Spider-Man: No Way Home' Rocks The US Box Office With $253M Opening

Sony Pictures SONY scored a grand slam at the box office over the weekend with a $253 million U.S. premiere theatrical engagement for “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

What Happened: The film, which opened in 4,336 theaters, was the top grossing December premiere of all time and third only to the $257.6 million gross from "Avengers: Infinity War" in 2018 and the $357.1 million from "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019 as the most financially successful U.S. opening engagement of all time. The film also triumphed around the world, with $334.2 million from 60 international markets for a global sum of $587.2 million – an achievement that occurred without having the film in the lucrative Chinese theatrical market.

The success of “Spider-Man: No Way Home” stood in stark contrast to last weekend’s dismal financial tally for the Walt Disney Co.’s DIS “West Side Story” as the top-grossing film, with a $10.5 million premiere engagement. That film sank during its second week in theaters, placing third among the top 10 grossing films with $3.14 million in ticket sales. Another Disney title, the animated “Encanto,” was the second top grossing film from the weekend with $6.5 million in ticket sales for its fourth week in release.

The only other new film going into premiere release over the weekend was “Nightmare Alley” starring Bradley Cooper. This release from Disney’s Searchlight division grossed $2.95 million from 2,145 screens, placing fifth among the weekend’s top 10 grossing films.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” also erased any doubts that moviegoers were shying away from theaters out of concern regarding COVID-19. Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures’ Motion Picture Group, alluded to the health crisis in a statement by declaring the “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.”

What Happens Next: For this week, three of the season’s biggest films will be opening on Dec. 22: AT&T’s NYSE:T) Warner Bros. has “The Matrix Resurrections” starring Keanu Reeves in theaters and on HBO Max, while Comcast Corp.’s CMCSA Universal is presenting the animated feature “Sing 2,” and Disney’s 20th Century Studios has “The King’s Man” starring Ralph Fiennes and Gemma Arterton.

On Dec. 24, Sony Pictures is releasing Pedro Almodovar’s “Parallel Mothers” starring Penelope Cruz in Los Angeles and New York, while Reliance Entertainment will have the Hindi-language drama “83” in a limited nationwide release.

On Christmas Day, Denzel Washington has two films opening: the A24 release of “The Tragedy of Macbeth” with Washington as Shakespeare’s murderous monarch and the Sony Pictures release of “A Journal for Jordan” starring Michael B. Jordan in a drama directed by Washington. Also opening is Lionsgate’s (NYSE: LGF-A) “American Underdog” starring Zachary Levi as football great Kurt Warner.

Also Happening: While the 2021 movie year winds down, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has announced its list of the Most Anticipated Movies of 2022, based on the most popular searches of its cinematic database.

According to IMDb, most moviegoers are pumped up for “The Batman,” followed by “Scream,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Mission: Impossible 7,” “Uncharted” and “The Flash.”

Of the top 10 films, only the Martin Scorsese-directed “Killers of the Flower Moon” is an original production that is not a reboot, sequel or expansion of an established franchise from another medium. IMDb is owned by Amazon.com AMZN

Photo: Tom Holland as Spider-Man, courtesy of Sony Pictures.