Spider-Man: No Way Home raced to an estimated $43.6m from the first wave of international launches on Wednesday including a record-setting $10.1m UK debut as reports suggested a minimum $290m global opening weekend lies in store.
The buoyant forecast combines the studio’s projection of a $130m three-day North American opening weekend (previews started at 3pm PT on Thursday) with enthusiastic tracking that points to a strong international session.
The industry is anxious to rally around a beacon of hope after a fraught 21 months although studios and exhibitors remain cautious amid the rise of Delta and Omicron and the reintroduction of restrictions on public life across parts of Europe and elsewhere.
The $200m Sony/Marvel release starring Tom Holland has earned $9m in Mexico for the biggest Wednesday opening day and $5.3m in South Korea for the sixth biggest opening day by a Hollywood film.
Spidey generated $4.3m in France, 2% ahead of the opening day of Avengers: Infinity War; $3.5m in Russia for the third highest opening day; and $3.4m in Italy where it delivered Sony’s biggest opening day and the seventh highest of all time.
In other releases Taiwan produced $1.4m for Sony’s biggest opening day while Hong Kong delivered $1.2m for the fifth highest debut of all time.
The $43.6m opening salvo accounts for 53% of the international footprint excluding China, which remains unset. In the UK Spider-Man: No Way Home’s $10.1m (£7.6m) arrived as Sony’s biggest opening day and the biggest Wednesday bow of all time, coming in at 57% ahead of the No Time To Die opening day.
A $130m North American debut for the well-reviewed tentpole starting on Friday (December 17) would beat by some margin the pandemic record of $90m set by Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Such a figure would also rank impressively alongside the $151.1m franchise-best opening weekend set by Spider-Man 3 in 2007.
Jon Watts directed the film from a screenplay by Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers. Starring alongside Holland are Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau and Marisa Tomei.
Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and former Sony head Amy Pascal served as producers, while Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, JoAnn Perritano, Rachel O’Connor, Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach are executive producers.
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