Sony/Marvel Studios’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home” continued to climb up the all-time box office charts on New Year’s weekend, adding $54 million to its domestic total to rise above $600 million.
That puts the web-filled crossover blockbuster among the Top 10 films highest grossing films ever in North America, passing the $608.5 million total of “Incredibles 2” with $611 million grossed so far. On Monday, the film will likely climb to the No. 8 spot as it passes the domestic totals of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and “The Avengers.”
This coming week, “No Way Home” should also enter the all-time Top 10 list worldwide, as it now has a global total of $1.37 billion that exceeds the 2018 run of “Black Panther” for the No. 12 spot. The No. 10 spot currently belongs to “Frozen II” with $1.45 billion.
Superhero films — and Marvel films specifically — have long been the core pillar of the box office. But in a pandemic year in which moviegoers 18-35 have taken up an even larger share of the audience and films for older audiences have struggled, comic book domination has become even stronger. Alone, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” accounts for 12% of the $4.45 billion overall domestic total in 2021.
When “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is combined with the four other Marvel films that came out this past year — including Sony’s non-MCU title “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” — the franchise’s share of the domestic market soars to 30%, higher than the market share for any studio in 2021. By comparison, in 2018, the year that “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Black Panther” came out, Marvel films accounted for around 18% of the overall domestic total.
Outside of Marvel world, Universal/Illumination’s “Sing 2” remains the only Christmas release to make any significant impact on the box office, adding $19.4 million in its second weekend for a total of $89.7 million domestic and $144.5 million worldwide. This week, the film will become the first animated release since the pandemic began to cross $100 million in North America, and in doing so it will pass Disney’s “Encanto,” which currently stands as the top animated film at the box office with $91 million.
Lionsgate/Kingdom’s “American Underdog” is in in fourth with $4 million grossed in its first full weekend in theaters, giving it a domestic total of $15 million. The faith-based sports biopic should yield a modest profit for Lionsgate given the low production and marketing spends on Kingdom Story Company’s films and the movie’s strong word of mouth in the central and Midwest U.S.
20th Century’s “The King’s Man” was able to rise above “American Underdog” for third on the charts with $4.5 million, but the Matthew Vaughn WWI-era blockbuster is still deep in the red with $19.3 million domestic and $47.8 million worldwide after two weekends.
So is Warner Bros./Village Roadshow’s “The Matrix Resurrections” with $3.8 million grossed and a total of $30.9 million domestic after two weekends. Of all the wide Christmas releases, “Matrix” has had the biggest drop from last weekend at 64%, a sign of both the film’s mixed reception and its availability at no extra charge on HBO Max. The film is doing somewhat better overseas with $75 million grossed so far for a total of $106 million worldwide.