The glamorous spies of 鈥淭he 355鈥� were no competition for the movie theater鈥檚 reigning webslinger.
Spider-Man鈥檚 box office dominance continued in its fourth weekend in theaters, adding another $33 million, according to studio estimates on Sunday. With $668.8 million in North American ticket sales to date, 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home鈥� is now the sixth highest grossing release of all time domestically. Globally, with $1.5 billion and counting, it ranks in eighth place.
The only major new film this weekend was Universal鈥檚 鈥淭he 355,鈥� an original spy thriller starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong鈥檕, Diane Kruger and Penelope Cruz, which debuted in third place with $4.8 million from 3,145 North American theaters. Directed by Simon Kingberg, reviews for the film about a global coalition of female spies have been less than stellar: It holds a 27% on Rotten Tomatoes.
But the audience scores have been more enthusiastic, especially from women, and about a third of the attendees this weekend were over 45 鈥� a demographic that has not gone out to movie theaters much during the pandemic. With a holiday weekend coming up, Jim Orr, Universal's head of domestic distribution, said, 鈥淲e think we'll have a nice runway.鈥�
鈥淭he 355鈥� came in behind the animated 鈥淪ing 2,鈥� also distributed by Universal, which grossed an estimated $12 million in its third weekend in theaters, bringing its global total to $190.8 million.
With omicron cases surging, Hollywood has entered 2022 cautiously. January's biggest new release, the Spider-Man spinoff 鈥淢orbius," was recently pushed to April.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a bit of uncertainty in the marketplace because of the omicron variant,鈥� said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore's senior media analyst. 鈥淪tudios want to protect their crown jewels and give them the greatest shot at success in movie theaters. A delay like that shows they鈥檙e not giving up on the theaters. But studios are very aware of this marketplace and what the challenges might be.鈥�
And while January is now destined to be quiet at the box office, Dergarabedian said that Spider-Man has been a 鈥渂eacon of hope" for the industry.
"It shows that audiences want to go back to the movie theater," he said. 鈥淲e could end up having a really strong box office year, but only time will tell.鈥�
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home,鈥� $33 million.
2. 鈥淪ing 2,鈥� $12 million.
3. 鈥淭he 355,鈥� $4.8 million.
4. 鈥淭he King's Man,鈥� $3.4 million.
5. 鈥淎merican Underdog,鈥� $2.4 million.
6. 鈥淭he Matrix Resurrections,鈥� $1.9 million.
7. 鈥淲est Side Story,鈥� $1.4 million.
8. 鈥淕hostbusters: Afterlife,鈥� $1.1 million.
9. 鈥淟icorice Pizza,鈥� $1 million.
10. 鈥淗ouse of Gucci,鈥� $632,348.
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Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/ldbahr
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
