This past winter holiday was a success for box offices, with Spider-Man: No Way Home and Sing 2 filling seats in theaters. Later, Scream did the unthinkable by taking the top spot from Spider-Man: No Way Home during its opening MLK weekend, but it has now relinquished the box office crown to the web-slinging hero after a lethargic theatrical weekend.
The fifth installment to the iconic Scream franchise performed well in its debut by earning roughly $36 million, helping it unseat Spider-Man: No Way Home from its four-week reign at the top of domestic box offices. This past weekend, however, proved to be a relatively slow one for Scream 5, which earned $12.4 million to bring its ten-day total to $51.3 million. Nevertheless, Paramount and Spyglass Media’s film did better than anticipated, placing third in the franchise’s second-weekend releases. Scream 3 holds the crown, earning $16.3 million in its second weekend, followed by Scream 2, which earned $13.9 million.
Spider-Man: No Way Home, however, continues to surge despite the lack of attendance in theaters at the moment, earning $14.1 million to reclaim its box office throne. The numbers bring the groundbreaking film’s total to $721.5 million, currently 4th place among films at domestic box offices. Star Wars: The Force Awakens holds the top spot, followed by Avengers: Endgame and Avatar, which is in trouble of losing its third-place position to the Peter Parker film. Plans for Spider-Man: No Way Home have not diminished since its release, with Marvel Studios and Sony continuously rolling out promotions to propel audiences to see the cutting-edge film.
While the numbers are impressive, can Spider-Man: No Way Home continue its rise to unseat Avatar for third-place? It’s possible, especially if the film continues to accumulate similar box office numbers, but the film needs to do another $40.1 million to drop Avatar down to fourth place officially. According to Deadline, the film would need to replicate the box office pattern of Star Wars: The Force Awakens to beat Avatar. What the film does between now and the end of President’s Day Weekend will significantly determine its position domestically. The film could see another surge during the holiday weekend, which may be the final push needed to get it over the top.
Globally, Spider-Man: No Way Home sits 6th among the highest-grossing films of all time, earning $1.69 billion worldwide. One can only assume that numbers for the film will continue to grow, especially since theaters are lacking quality material to attract attention elsewhere. Things should start to pick up theatrically in February, which will see the release of Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall and Jeff Tremaine’s Jackass Forever. March, however, carries the biggest box office attraction with Matt Reeves’ The Batman finally making its long-awaited appearance. Spider-Man: No Way Home has been the box office champion so far during its six-week theatrical stint, but films are coming that will hopefully give it a run for its money.
The pandemic has affected the movie-going experience for audiences, which is something studios can only hope will remedy over time. While Scream’s place at the top was brief, its performance was a welcoming sign for many. Spider-Man: No Way Home continues to spark optimism that audiences will show for highly anticipated films, which is a theory that will play itself out as some heavily touted pictures inch closer toward release.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently playing in theaters.
Source: Deadline
