Korea Box Office: ‘Spider-Man’ Beats Weekend Return of COVID Restrictions

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.

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).

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.

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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Spider-Man: No Way Home” is unwrapping another big box office bounty on Christmas.The grand finale in Sony’s Tom Holland-led superhero trilogy added another $19.6 million from 4,336 domestic theaters on Friday, putting the film on pace to earn $92 million to $100 million over the traditional weekend.

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.

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.

Coming into the weekend, everyone knew “Spider-Man: No Way Home” would break pandemic-era box office records. Previously, the biggest debut was with “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which earned $90 million over its first three days back in October.

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.

Holdovers Drive My Car, Red Rocket and The Scary Of Sixty First looked good in limited runs on a weekend with few new specialty releases and even fewer numbers. Streamers – which presented The Lost Daughter (Netflix), Swan Song (Apple) and The Tender Bar (Amazon), don’t reveal them and smaller distributors often report early in the week.

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” has swung into the record books with the second-biggest opening day of all time in North America, and the biggest debut ever for December.Directed by Jon Watts, the latest installment of the web-slinger’s saga took in $121.5 million from 4,336 theaters nationwide Friday night, according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.The total included $50 million from limited-release Thursday previews, according to The Hollywood Reporter.The big total made “No Way Home” the first film of

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief“Spider-Man: No Way Home” has achieved pandemic-era records in its first two days in Korean cinemas. But Korean theater operators are warning of industry “collapse” as the country adopts revived anti-COVID measures on Saturday.The new measures were announced on Thursday and mean a return of social distancing measures and restrictions for a minimum of two weeks.

Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed an estimated $5.28M in Korea on its first day today. This is significant for a number of reasons: Korea has been extremely soft of late, yet the launch day is 11% over the first day of 2019’s pre-pandemic Spider-Man: Far From Home and is the biggest day-one figure for any title of the pandemic era.

Naman Ramachandran Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed musical “West Side Story” and beloved canine mascot-hero property “Clifford the Big Red Dog,” were neck and neck for pole position at the U.K. and Ireland weekend box office.Disney release “West Side Story” topped the charts with £1.297 million ($1.72 million), while eOne release “Clifford the Big Red Dog” was just behind with £1.293 million ($1.71 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.

For all the mishegaas exhibition has endured during the pandemic including streaming threats, day-and-date window crunching, older demos not showing up, local ordinances and countless release date changes and eliminations, Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home arrives this weekend to save the day.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterMarvel’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is swinging to the rescue.Tom Holland’s newest web-slinging adventure “Spider-Man: No Way Home” hits theaters on Friday and is poised to generate $150 million in its box office debut — a heroic feat even by pre-COVID standards. The film’s distributor Sony Pictures modestly predicts a three-day tally closer to $130 million, which would still rank as a huge win.

Keir Starmer has called on people to do their “national duty” and get their covid booster jabs to protect against the Omicron variant.

Tom Holland and Zendaya just made one adorable “Spider-Man” fan’s dreams come true.