Sharjah24 – AFP: Covid-schmovid: Sony and Marvel's new "Spider-Man: No Way Home" scored the third-biggest domestic opening of all time, taking in an estimated $253 million in its massive North American weekend opening.
Box office watchers are spinning hopeful predictions, with analysts eyeing it as the pandemic era's first potential billion-dollar-grossing film.
Its box office sales trail only 2019's "Avengers: Endgame" ($357 million) and the previous year's "Avengers: Infinity War" ($258 million), according to the BoxOfficeMojo website. "Spider-Man" easily surpassed early estimates of $130-150 million.
The new superhero blockbuster is well on its way to earning $600 million overseas, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday. And this comes as theaters continue to battle their way back from months-long Covid-induced closures.
Disney's "Encanto," an animated fantasy with music by Lin-Manuel Miranda, placed second for the Friday-through-Sunday period with $6.3 million, according to Exhibitor Relations.
20th Century's "West Side Story," with Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler playing star-crossed lovers in the mean streets of New York, slipped to third spot, at just $3.4 million.
In fourth was Sony's "Ghostbusters: Afterlife," the latest chapter in that supernatural franchise, also at $3.4 million.
And in fifth was Searchlight's new crime thriller "Nightmare Alley." Despite strong reviews, the Guillermo del Toro film took in only $3 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were:
"House of Gucci" ($1.9 million)
"Eternals" ($1.2 million)
"Clifford the Big Red Dog" ($400,000)
"Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City" ($280,000)
"Dune" ($240,000)
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