2021 box office closes with more fireworks for 'Spider-Man'

J. Kim Murphy After one weekend outside of the No. 1 slot, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” could be surging ahead to lead the domestic box office once again.

Refresh for chart and more analysis Some studio distribution bosses use to say that moviegoing is a 52-week business. Well, that’s not the philosophy this weekend, and it’s even grimmer next weekend as most of the majors figured in the wake of MLK weekend, and a traditional box office dead zone like January with Omicron flying around, that it wasn’t worth the P&A spend to put any kind of movie out there. Back in the good ole days, and we’re talking five years ago, post MLK was the time when Universal turned M. Night Shyamalan’s Blumhouse horror movie Split into an event with a $40M start, and Paramount settled for second on their Vin Diesel sequel xXx: Return of Xander Cage for $20.1M.

Marvel’s Daredevil appears to be making a comeback, three years after its cancellation by Netflix, ranking at No. 8 on Nielsen’s weekly U.S. streaming chart of originals for the period of Dec. 20-26.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Scream,” the hit sequel in the long-running slasher series, will keep terrorizing audiences over the weekend.Only one movie, Universal’s faith-based romantic drama “Redeeming Love,” is opening nationwide, and the poorly reviewed film, which combines a gold-rush setting with a parable about redemption and the oldest profession, isn’t looking like it’ll put up much of a fight on North American box office charts.That means “Scream,” which debuted at No. 1 last weekend with $34 million over the extended Martin Luther King Jr.

Naman Ramachandran Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” spent a fifth consecutive weekend at the top of the U.K. and Ireland box office, collecting £3.2 million ($4.3 million), according to numbers provided by Comscore.With a mighty total of £84.1 million ($114.2 million), “Spider-Man” has swung past “Titanic” (£80.2 million) and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi (£82.7) to claim seventh position in the all time U.K.

weeks atop the domestic box office, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” was pushed out of the top spot by “Scream.” The reboot of the classic horror flick raked in $13.4 million when it premiered Friday, more than any other film that day, according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo database.“Spider-Man” grossed $5.2 million that day good enough for second place as it hit a total haul of $683.1 million.Kiddie singalong “Sing 2” held onto its spot just behind Spidey, in third on Friday, bringing in $1.8 million on the day, for a total $112.9 million.Another Friday premier — science-fiction anime “Belle” — clocked in at fourth with $0.7 million on its opening day.And in fifth, star-powered spy film “The 355” continued to disappoint, with $0.7 on Friday, for a total $6.7 million.

NEW YORK -- After a month at no. 1, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has finally been overtaken at the box office. Paramount Pictures' “Scream” reboot debuted with $30.6 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.“Scream,” a self-described “requel” that is both the fifth film in the franchise and a reboot introducing a new, younger cast, led all releases over the Martin Luther King Jr.

Best time ever? As Pete Davidson’s romance with Kim Kardashian has continued to heat up, the Saturday Night Live star couldn’t help but gush over his “fun” year during the season 47 return.

Given the ongoing pandemic with regard to global box office, it’s tempting to say “The more things change, the more things stay the same.” To wit: Disney still leads all studios worldwide, piracy remains a major concern, and many markets are still in Covid-induced flux. But when looking back over 2021 versus 2020, there are some key differences and highlights. Thank heavens, or at least, thank the Toretto family, Godzilla and Kong, James Bond and phenom Spider-Man to name a few headliners who proved that when product is available in cinemas, audiences will embrace the communal experience.

“Are you really doing a domestic box office marketshare piece?”

Before the pandemic, if there was something studio executives rubbed their hands about, it was the near total eclipse of the theatrical window.

FRIDAY AM UPDATE:Thursday box office figures Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home now ranks No. 11 on the list of highest grossing movies at the domestic box office with $557.19M collected during its first two weeks in release. The MCU title outpegs Jon Favreau’s 2019 version of The Lion King with $543.6M. The 14-day gross for No Way Home is the third highest of all-time behind Avengers: Endgame ($660.4M) and Star Wars: Force Awakens ($652M).

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDespite the best efforts of Spider-Man, Black Widow and other mighty Avengers, movie theaters have yet to rebound in another topsy-turvy, pandemic-battered year.According to early estimates from Comscore, overall domestic box office revenues in 2021 are projected to hit $4.4 billion through the final days of December.

It’s official— “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has done what no other pandemic-era film has done so far, earning more than $1 billion worldwide. And the film did it in only 12 days.

Refresh for latest…: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is having a very happy holiday as it is now officially the first movie of the pandemic-era to pass the $1B mark at the global box office. The worldwide gross through Sunday is $1.05B which makes this installment Sony’s No. 2 film of all time, behind only Spider-Man: Far From Home ($1.13B). No Way Home is the No. 1 film of the year worldwide — and one of the only movies of the modern era to ever reach $1B without China. Simply amazing.

Love Island star Maura Higgins pulled out all the stops this festive season and gifted her mum a Mercedes-Benz for Christmas saying she "deserves everything and more". The Irish reality star, 31, shared the precious moment she gave her mother the lavish white vehicle, which left her in tears.

Refresh for latest…: Spidey has done it again, logging yet another milestone as he swings past $800M global. Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home now has a worldwide total of $813.9M through Wednesday. This pushes it past No Time To Die and makes it the No. 3 movie of the year, and the top Hollywood release.

Mark Schilling Japan CorrespondentLocally-made films, especially animated titles, dominated the Japanese box office in 2021.

It’s going to be a really rich Christmas for exhibition, Sony and Marvel as Spider-Man: No Way Home barrels toward potentially the third best 2nd weekend ever with around $143M over the long Christmas period of Dec. 24-27.