The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Spider-Man: No Way Home webbed its way to a massive $50 million during Thursday previews. That's the third-highest haul ever, behind only Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($57 million) and Avengers: Endgame $60 million). It's an astonishing feat, especially as COVID-19 continues to play a role in lower than usual box office takings.
Now, the Sony Pictures/Marvel Studios threequel looks set to become the first release in this "pandemic era" to earn more than $100 million during its opening weekend (current estimates point to a $150 million weekend). On Wednesday morning, several scenes from the movie were leaked on YouTube by fans overseas, but those clearly didn't diminish interest in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
If fans did stumble across those, then they clearly only served to increase excitement. Luckily, Sony was quick to remove them, so fingers crossed not too many people had the movie spoiled in advance.
The trade adds that current tracking is pointing to a $300 million - $400 million global debut, though that pesky Omicron COVID variant is proving to be problematic in some European locations. Denmark announced the closure of cinemas in the country a short while before this news broke.
In our spoiler-free review, we concluded with: "Spider-Man: No Way Home is the greatest Marvel movie ever made. Period. As epic as it is emotional, this is not only a perfect blockbuster, but Spider-Man’s wildest, funniest, and most awe-inspiring adventure yet. It's a Marvel masterpiece."
It feels like this is just the beginning for Spider-Man: No Way Home, and positive word of mouth should only serve to help its box office takings over the weeks to come. Even without a China release, it doesn't look like the web-slinger's latest adventure will struggle to top the $1 billion mark globally.