Peter Parker\u2019s good fortune continued over the holiday weekend as Hollywood prepares to close the books on a turbulent 2021. Even with some mighty competition from new Matrix and Sing movies,\u2026<\/b>
\nBy Lindsey Bahr| Associated Press Peter Parker\u2019s good fortune continued over the holiday weekend as Hollywood prepares to close the books on a turbulent 2021. Even with some mighty competition from new Matrix and Sing movies, and rising concerns over the omicron variant, \u201cSpider-Man: No Way Home\u201d stayed in the No.1 spot and netted a few more milestones too including crossing the $1 billion mark globally. According to studio estimates Sunday \u201cSpider-Man\u201d added $81.5 million over the three-day weekend, down 69% from its first weekend. The Sony and Marvel film has now grossed $467 million from North American theaters, more than doubling the domestic grosses of 2021\u2032s previous No.1 film, \u201cShang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.\u201d With $587.1 million from 61 overseas markets, in just 12 days of release, \u201cSpider-Man\u201d has grossed $1.05 billion globally. It\u2019s the first film of the pandemic to cross $1 billion and is tied with \u201cStar Wars: The Force Awakens\u201d for being the third-fastest film ever to do so \u2014 and this without the benefit of its release in China. Universal\u2019s \u201cSing 2\u201d came in second place with an estimated $23.8 million, while Warner Bros.\u2019 \u201cThe Matrix Resurrections\u201d grossed $12 million to take third place. The animated musical \u201cSing 2\u201d features high-profile celebrity talent including Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon and Bono, as well as a jukebox soundtrack full of well-known hits. Since its release Wednesday, it\u2019s made $41 million ($1.6 million of that came from Thanksgiving weekend showings) from North America and $65 million worldwide. \u201cWe\u2019re extraordinarily pleased,\u201d said Jim Orr, Universal\u2019s president of domestic distribution. Orr said the stellar CinemaScore (A+) and audience scores suggest that the film will continue to perform well in the next few weeks, when many kids are still out of school for the holidays. The fourth Matrix also opened on Wednesday and has earned an estimated $22.5 million in its first five days in North America. The film, directed by Lana Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, is currently streaming on HBO Max as well. Globally, it\u2019s grossed $69.8 million to date. While the studio was hoping for a stronger box office, Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.\u2019 head of domestic distribution, said the movie achieved what they were looking for as an overall strategy including HBO Max. \u201cThe Matrix Resurrections\u201d is the last of the 18 Warner Bros. films released in 2021 to debut both in theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously. Starting in 2022, the studio will have a 45-day exclusive theatrical window on their films. In fourth place was Disney and 20th Century\u2019s \u201cThe King\u2019s Man,\u201d a prequel to the action-comedy Kingsman series starring Ralph Fiennes. It came in slightly under expectations with $6.4 million from the weekend and $10 million from its first five days. The audience skewed heavily male (65%). The Kurt Warner biopic \u201cAmerican Underdog\u201d opened on Christmas Day and has made an estimated $6.2 million in its two days in release to round out the top five. Zachary Levi stars as Warner, the quarterback who went from undrafted free agent to Hall of Famer. Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s \u201cLicorice Pizza\u201d expanded nationwide on Christmas, after playing in limited release for a month, and added $2.3 million bringing its total to $3.7 million. And right behind it was the Denzel Washington-directed drama \u201cA Journal For Jordan,\u201d which to $2.2 million. With just a few days left in 2021, the North American box office is currently sitting at $4.3 billion and is likely to net out around $4.4 billion. Pre-pandemic, it was normal for a year\u2019s box office to surpass $11 billion. \u201cTo say was a roller-coaster year is an understatement,\u201d said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore, Inc. \u201cThe marketplace is still facing challenges from the pandemic, but what an amazing capper to one of the most incredible years ever at the box office.\u201d He added: \u201cThe future of the movie theater a year ago was a big question mark, and a year later it\u2019s here to stay.\u201d Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: http:\/\/twitter.com\/ldbahr<\/p>\n