There was a flood of new releases, but Spider-Man: No Way Home dominates Christmas weekend.
It was a merry Christmas indeed for Sony, as Spider-Man: No Way Home continued to rack up numbers that largely haven't been seen since before the pandemic. The third entry in the second trilogy took in $84.5 million, bringing its ten-day total to $470.4 million, putting it well ahead of where the "live-action" Lion King and The Rise of Skywalker were ten days into their runs. That number is also not only, by far, the best second weekend gross of the year, it also is the third-highest-grossing overall weekend number for a film during the pandemic, beaten only by Venom: Let There Be Carnage's opening and, of course, Spidey's own opening weekend last week.
There is a bit of trouble in paradise, though. That weekend number represents an over 2/3rd dive from its opening, a sign that the film's legs may not be all that great. That said, when you're already the 20th highest-grossing film of all time after ten days, long legs may not be that important. Besides, with January looking rather anemic in terms of new movies, Spidey might have room to put up numbers comparable to Avengers: Infinity War (though hopes of catching Avengers: Endgame and Star Wars: The Force Awakens are pretty much dead).
While the headlines belonged to Spider-Man, the rest of the Top 10 was undergoing upheaval, as 7 new films crowded into the nation's multiplexes, ensuring that, other than Spidey, only two other titles remained from last week. Debuting in second was Sing 2, the sequel to 2016's smash hit about a group of singing animals. The follow-up did well enough, taking in $22.3 million over the weekend and $39.6 million since its Wednesday opening. That's slightly below what Encanto did in its first five days over Thanksgiving, but Sing will have the advantage of big weekday grosses this week, which will likely mean it will ultimately be the highest-grossing animated film of 2021. Still, this opening is way off what the first Sing's 5-day Christmas weekend opening was back in 2016, meaning that film's $270.4 million final is likely out of reach. That said, the same anemic slate that should help Spider-Man's grosses will also help Sing's, especially as there isn't a family film in sight all month long.
Not opening great was The Matrix Resurrections, the attempt to reboot the beloved action trilogy (OK, beloved original and tolerated sequels) from 20 years ago. The machines were only able to come up with a $12 million opening and $22.5 million five-day total, well below what even the original Matrix did in 1999. The poor opening was probably a factor of a lot of things, from its simultaneous debut on HBO Max to the fact the last movie in the franchise is now old enough to be a college freshman to direct competition from Spider-Man to rather poor word-of-mouth. That last factor will probably be the primary reason this will be the first franchise entry to fail to hit $100 million.
At least Resurrections wasn't The King's Man, which debuted in fourth to an embarrassing $5.9 million over the weekend and $9.6 million since Wednesday. This will probably ensure we don't get any more prequels to the over-the-top action franchise, but it's possible this could stop development on even the modern-day-set films.
Debuting in fifth was American Underdog, the biopic of former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner. Aimed at a Christian audience, it opened Saturday and made a decent $5.9 million. More so than Matrix or King's Man, this one is likely to have decent legs, particularly as there will be lots of chances for commercials on the upcoming NFL regular season and playoff games.
West Side Story finally stabilized, dropping only 22% despite the onslaught of newcomers. It took in $2.9 million for a total of $24 million. At this point, it seems likely to move past In the Heights's $29.9 final to become the year's highest-grossing live-action musical, which I'm sure will be cold comfort.
Opening in 7th, A Journal for Jordan, a Denzel Washington-directed tearjerker starring Michael B. Jordan (who is not the titular Jordan), had a poor Christmas showing, earning a mere $2.2 million. Maybe if Washington had also appeared in front of the camera, instead of just behind it.
After four weeks of limited release, Paul Thomas Anderson's widely acclaimed Licorice Pizza made its wide debut on Christmas, taking in $1.9 million to bring its total to $3.3 million. We'll see how the upcoming awards season props this one up.
Between the arrival of Sing 2 and its Disney+ debut, Encanto absolutely collapsed over Christmas, taking in $1.8 million, a 72% drop from last weekend. Its total stands at $88.1 million, and it will likely need strong Christmas week grosses to have any hope at $100 million.
Doing well on the Bollywood circuit was Christmas Eve release '83, telling the true story of the 1983 Indian cricket team, which shocked the world (or at least the part of the world that cares about cricket) by winning that year's World Cup. It took in $1.7 million, good enough for 10th.
Traditionally, the final wide releases of the year are on Christmas Day, with the next wide releases usually coming out the first Friday of the new year. That rule holds true this year as well, so expect that this week's Top 10 to resemble last week's Top 10. Indeed, with poor moviegoing day Christmas Eve swapped out for better moviegoing day New Year's Eve, this weekend might see much of the Top 10 improve on their Christmas weekend totals. We'll find out in 2022. Until then, have a very Happy New Year!
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