Spider-Man: No Way Home is looking to have a record-breaking weekend at the box office in the pandemic era. The third film in the Tom Holland-led franchise took in over $50 million in Thursday previews. The figures puts the film in a position to gross over $150 million in its opening weekend, though some insiders believe it could even hit $200 million.
No Way Home becomes the third-highest in Thursday preview all time, putting it just behind massive box office juggernauts Avengers: Endgame ($60 million) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($57 million). The milestone is an astonishing feat as concerns grow over the current pandemic and the omicron variant. Though, the variant doesn’t look to be making an impact on huge box office success in the U.S. Sadly, the same can’t be said for other markets especially in Europe, where capacity limits and closures are starting to begin.
Read: ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ Review: “Lives Up to All That Hype”
This wasn’t the only record Spider-Man: No Way Home received, it scored the second-biggest superhero preview gross behind Avengers: Endgame ($60 million) and is Sony’s biggest preview number ever. In terms of the Spidey franchise, it tripled Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s preview earnings of $15.4 million.
Overseas, where No Way Home began launching in select markets midweek, it opened to a huge 7.6 million pounds ($10.1 million) in the U.K. and Ireland on Wednesday despite omicron. That’s not only a pandemic-era best, beating out James Bond pic No Time to Die, it’s the biggest Wednesday opening number of all time and Sony’s best ever for any day of the week.
For the first time in the cinematic history of Spider-Man, our friendly neighborhood hero’s identity is revealed, bringing his Super Hero responsibilities into conflict with his normal life and putting those he cares about most at risk. When he enlists Doctor Strange’s help to restore his secret, the spell tears a hole in their world, releasing the most powerful villains who’ve ever fought a Spider-Man in any universe. Now, Peter will have to overcome his greatest challenge yet, which will not only forever alter his own future but the future of the Multiverse.
Directed by Watts and starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, Benedict Cumberbatch, Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina, Willem Dafoe, and Jamie Foxx, Spider-Man: No Way Home will be released in the UK on December 15, 2021, and on December 17, 2021, in North America. The film is projected to be the first film to gross $1 billion worldwide since the pandemic.