Over the weekend, all signs pointed to Spider-Man: No Way Home swinging back to the top of the North American box office. Billed as "The More Fun Stuff Version" of the blockbuster, it included an additional 11 minutes of footage. However, with relatively little marketing, a lack of buzz, and scenes that weren't that good, the movie ended up underperforming.
In fact, Deadline reports that Top Gun: Maverick gunned the wall-crawler down, shooting its way back to the #1 spot with $7.9 million.
Bullet Train ended up exceeding expectations with a solid $7.33 million over the four-day Labor Day weekend, leaving Spider-Man: No Way Home to web up $6.55 million for third place. Most surprising, however, is that the biggest movie of 2021 only just managed to beat DC League of Super-Pets' $6.365 million!
It feels like Sony Pictures really dropped the ball here, failing to build excitement for Spider-Man's return to theaters. However, it's feasible the studio was aware that the extra footage wasn't anything to write home about (some fans have started referring to it as the "Betty Cut" thanks to scenes blatantly recycled from the movie's TikTok account).
As you might imagine, Paramount Pictures is very happy with this result.
"It’s without a doubt, that Top Gun: Maverick is a true cultural touchstone embodying the power of the cinematic experience," studio President and CEO Brian Robbins says. "As we celebrate this enormous achievement and the film’s massive impact, we want to extend our gratitude to Tom Cruise, our filmmakers and cast, Paramount’s marketing and distribution teams, and the legions of both new and longtime Top Gun fans who keep turning out to enjoy this remarkable movie."
It's really not the end of the world that Spider-Man: No Way Home's re-release failed to set the box office on fire. Sony is likely to be disappointed, and whether it was worth holding these deleted scenes back from the Blu-ray is up for debate (especially as that led to a lot of negative backlash from fans).
What did you head to theaters to watch this weekend?