Spider-Man continues to lift anaemic box office takings

Los Angeles

AFTER rescuing Hollywood from otherwise paltry year-end numbers, Spider-Man: No Way Home continued to soar last weekend, leading the North American box office with an estimated take of US$33 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported on Sunday (Jan 9).

Sony's superhero sequel has now accumulated worldwide ticket sales of US$1.42 billion in just 4 weeks of release, helping brighten a mostly pallid picture for the Covid-slammed industry.

Its North American gross of US$669 million places it sixth all-time, surpassing Titanic and Jurassic World.

The box office in November and December 2021 was down 32 per cent from the 2019 period, said David Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. He described the industry's overall picture as "mostly wreckage" - except for Spider-Man, whose earnings accounted for 46 per cent of the total.

With Covid-19 surging, older moviegoers and families remain hesitant to return to cinemas.

Even the results of Universal's animated musical Sing 2 - second for the weekend at US$12 million - were considered disappointing.

Its worldwide take is down 68 per cent from Sing 1, Gross said, whereas such second-episode animation sequels generally drop just 8 per cent.

Also seen as disappointing were the results for Universal's new The 355, which placed third but took in just US$4.8 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period.

Analysts said the female-led spy thriller - starring Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz and Lupita Nyong'o - suffered from weak reviews and continuing hesitation by older female moviegoers.

Fourth spot went to 20th Century's The King's Man at US$3.3 million. The Kingsman prequel stars Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans and Matthew Goode.

In fifth was American Underdog from Lionsgate at US$2.4 million. Zachary Levi stars in the crowd-pleasing true story of Kurt Warner, the one-time grocery store worker who became the National Football League's most valuable player.

Rounding out the top 10 were The Matrix: Resurrections (US$1.9 million); West Side Story (US$1.4 million); Ghostbusters: Afterlife (US$1.1 million); Licorice Pizza (US$1 million); and House of Gucci (US$632,000). AFP