Spider-Man Swings to Third Biggest Opening Weekend

Just in time before Omicron threatens to disrupt public life once again, Spider-Man: No Way Home offered some badly-needed escapism for millions of people this weekend. According to box office analytics firm EntTelligence, roughly 20 million Americans watched the latest installment in the popular Marvel franchise this weekend, which is more than the total attendance at all regular season games in the NFL.

According to Box Office Mojo, No Way Home grossed $253 million at the domestic box office this weekend, making it not only the best Spider-Man debut, but the third biggest movie opening of all time. The latest Spidey flick only trails two Avengers movies in terms of opening weekend ticket sales, with Avengers: Endgame towering above the competition following its $357 million box office debut in April 2019.

As the following chart shows, Marvel dominates the list of the biggest movie openings, with five of the top eight movies part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The only three movies challenging Marvel’s box office dominance are Jurassic World (2015) and Episode VII (2015) and VIII (2017) of the Star Wars saga.