China Is Poised to Retain Worldwide Box Office Crown, While Decoupling From Global Film Industry

As we get rolling into the new year, optimism and caution are part of the outlook for 2022 at the international box office. The issue of China also remains top of mind as the territory — which maintained its status as the top global market in 2021 — has been even more ornery to navigate than usual, notably not approving a single movie with a Marvel character last year, from Disney’s Black Widow straight through to Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.

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Refresh for latest…: Arachnomania continues to grip the globe as Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home has increased its worldwide cume to $1.53B through four weekends. Tom Holland’s Peter Parker now fronts the No. 8 movie on the all-time global chart with No Way Home leaping past Marvel’s The Avengers, Furious 7, Frozen II and Avengers: Age Of Ultron across the frame.

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.

Refresh for latest…: Happy New Year!, Peter Parker. Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home has lifted its global cume to $1.37B, becoming the 12th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. Slinging up another $78.3M in 61 international box office markets in its third weekend, No Way Home now has an offshore cume of $759M. The current overseas frame reps a drop of just 35% from last session.

The Sony/Marvel Studios film is now the first film of the pandemic era to hit the $1 billion mark after just 12 days in theaters, tying “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as the third fastest film to hit that milestone in just 11 days in theaters. And unlike “Infinity War,” “No Way Home” was able to do this without a release in China, though Spidey will need a Chinese opening date to have a chance to join “Force Awakens” in the $2 billion club.

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.

Adding $30 million on Thursday from 4,336 locations, “No Way Home” has a domestic box office total of $386 million and $876 million worldwide, passing the $821 million total of the Chinese film “Hi, Mom” for second place on the global charts for the year.

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.

Refresh for latest…: Sony/Marvel’s friendly neighborhood webslinger now leads the No. 4 movie of 2021 worldwide, as Spider-Man: No Way Home overtakes F9 with $751.3M through Tuesday. At the international box office, Peter Parker also leapt to a new milestone, topping the $400M mark with yesterday’s grosses for $422.6M in 68 offshore markets. It’s currently the No. 6 film of the year overseas (No. 3 among Hollywood titles). Domestically, the film also hit a new benchmark.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAs the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20.

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.

Gower Street Analytics, the North American box office is projected to hit $9.2 billion in 2022, up from an estimated $4.4 billion in 2021. If those trends hold, North American would move back to its pre-pandemic position as the No.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Spider-Man: No Way Home” has generated even more money at the box office than initially reported.The epic finale in the Tom Holland-led comic book trilogy collected $260 million in North American theaters over the weekend, above Sunday’s estimates of $253 million. It means “No Way Home” has surpassed “Avengers: Infinity War” ($257 million) to land the second-biggest debut in Hollywood history behind only “Avengers: Endgame” ($357 million).

Rebecca Davis editorIn another quiet weekend in China, Korean War blockbuster “The Battle at Lake Changjin” was at last eased out of the top five for the first time since its Sept. 30 debut.

Refresh for latest…: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home has become the third biggest global opener of all-time with $587.2M. Crossing the $500M mark makes it only the sixth film ever to the milestone in a launch frame.