Spider-Man: No Way Home bodes well for cinemas. Yet smaller-budget films might get left behind.
Until the return of Spider-Man, every film’s box-office performance during the pandemic had come with an asterisk. Some movies, such as Black Widow and The Suicide Squad, were available to stream the day they opened in cinemas, helping explain somewhat depressed ticket sales. Others, such as No Time to Die and F9, relied on international revenue to boost domestic takes that were middling by pre-coronavirus standards. Since March 2020, the health of cinema-going has been fragile at best, and with every COVID-19 surge has come fresh worry that some people might never return to theaters. But the December 17 release of Spider-Man: No Way Home — exclusively in cinemas—defied every anxiety about the death of the multiplex. The movie arrived alongside news of Omicron’s spread, but that didn’t blunt enthusiasm. No Way Home had a domestic opening weekend of $260 million, the second highest in history (behind only its fellow Marvel entry Avengers: Endgame). It became the pandemic’s most successful film in just three days. Its earnings swung to $1 billion worldwide in little more than a week. It is now parent studio Sony’s most successful film ever. For theater chains, No Way Home is exciting, demonstrating both the enduring appeal of their business and the value of an exclusive cinema window.
