‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is first movie of the pandemic to cross $1 billion globally

This image released by Sony Pictures shows Tom Holland in Columbia Pictures' "Spider-Man: No Way Home." Image Credit: Sony Pictures via AP

The jury is still out on whether ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is a Christmas movie, but it certainly dominated the Christmas box office — becoming the first film of the COVID-19 pandemic to cross $1 billion, according to estimates from measurement firm Comscore.

The Sony and Marvel blockbuster, which takes place around Christmastime, picked up a whopping $81.5 million in North America in its sophomore weekend for a cumulative of $467.3 million. The grand finale of director Jon Watts’ Spidey trilogy scored the second-biggest domestic opening ever last weekend and has since grossed a total of $1.05 billion worldwide, despite not yet opening in China.

In other words, ‘No Way Home’ — starring on- and off-screen couple Tom Holland and Zendaya — is officially the highest-grossing title of 2021 and is on track to surpass its predecessor, ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home,’ as Sony’s No 1 film of all time.

Copy of Film_Review_-_Spider-Man__No_Way_Home_11824.jpg-107a5-1640409922235 — Tom Holland, Zendaya and Jacob Batalon in Columbia Pictures' SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME. Image Credit: AP

Debuting in second place at the North American box office this weekend was Universal Pictures’ ‘Sing 2,’ which collected $23.8 million. Also new to theatres this week was Warner Bros’ ‘The Matrix Resurrections,’ which landed in third place with $12 million.

In the US. both ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Sing 2’ were released exclusively in theatres, while ‘Matrix’ launched simultaneously on HBO Max. Like countless titles before them, all three movies were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Directed by Garth Jennings, ‘Sing 2’ finds its familiar band of musical animals on a mission to put on a new show with the help of a reclusive rock star. The animated sequel — featuring the voices of Bono, Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton and many others — received a middling 67 per cent rating on review aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes and a glowing A-plus grade from audiences polled by CinemaScore.

Copy of Film_Review_-_The_Matrix_Resurrections_56558.jpg-a303d [1]-1640409919279 — This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss in a scene from "The Matrix Resurrections." (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP) Image Credit: AP

The highly anticipated fourth instalment in the ‘Matrix’ franchise — helmed once again by Lana Wachowski (this time without sister and creative partner Lilly Wachowski) — sees Keanu Reeves reprise his superstar-making role as Neo and reenter the mind-bending world of the Matrix to face a new foe.

‘The Matrix Resurrections’ — also starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Jessica Henwick, Jonathan Groff, Neil Patrick Harris, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Jada Pinkett Smith — earned a lukewarm 66 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes and an equally tepid B-minus on CinemaScore.

Rounding out the top five performances at the domestic box office this weekend are 20th Century Studios’ ‘The King’s Man,’ which opened to $6.4 million, and Lionsgate’s ‘American Underdog,’ which launched at $6.2 million.

Notably, United Artists Releasing’s ‘Licorice Pizza’ finally expanded to wide release Saturday, nabbing $2.3 million for a North American cumulative of $3.7 million. Upon its limited release last month, the buzzy Paul Thomas Anderson rom-com obliterated the pandemic record for average opening-weekend gross per theatre.

Next weekend, ‘Spider-Man’ is all but guaranteed to continue its box-office reign into 2022 as zero new films are slated to open in wide release. Launching in limited release are Sony Pictures Classics’ ‘Jockey,’ Yash Raj Films’ ‘Jersey’ and Vertical Entertainment’s ‘Sensation.’