HOLDOVERS: Pandemic box office champion SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME (Marvel/Columbia/Sony) had no trouble keeping its throne over New Year’s weekend, down 38% to $52.7M, with a running US total of $609.9M. The January ahead is sparse on competition, so the film should top $700M, which will make it the #2 MCU title in the US (behind only Endgame‘s $858.4M), and would also put it at the #4 slot in US all-time (unadjusted for inflation), behind The Force Awakens, Endgame, and Avatar. No Way Home also has $759M overseas after a $78.3M weekend in 61 markets that don’t include China.
The only other holiday opening that can claim any level of success is SING 2 (Illumination/Universal), which dropped 12% to $19.6M in its 2nd weekend. If it reaches $135M in the US, that will be 50% below the original Sing. Overseas, it has $54.9M after a $17.2M weekend in 48 territories, with some major markets still to open (but no scheduled release in China). The international total for the first Sing was $363.8M.
THE KING’S MAN (20th/Disney) lost 24% to $4.5M in its 2nd weekend, and might get to $30M in the US, far below its costs. It also has $28.3M overseas after a $14.1M weekend in 22 territories.
AMERICAN UNDERDOG (Lionsgate) fell 31% to $4.1M in its 2nd weekend (that drop is steeper than it looks, because its opening was a 2-day weekend). It could reach $25M in the US, and hasn’t opened overseas.
THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS (Warners, also on HBO Max) collapsed by 68% to $3.8M in its 2nd weekend, and that can’t be put at the feet of its home availability, since the crash was worldwide, with a 52% overseas drop to $13.7M in 76 markets. It probably won’t see $40M in the US, and overseas its total is currently $75.1M, with the one piece of good news an increasingly rare confirmed opening in China later this month.
WEST SIDE STORY (20th/Disney) dipped 26% to $2.1M in its 4th weekend, on its way to $35M in the US. It has $23.2M overseas.
Parents who’d already brought the family to Spider-Man and Sing 2 apparently resorted to the 7th weekend of GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE (Columbia/Sony), which actually climbed 17% to $1.4M, and might stretch to $130M in the US. It remained quieter overseas with $61.3M to date.
LICORICE PIZZA (UA/MGM) dropped 35% to $1.2M in its 2nd wide weekend, and the studio has announced that it will be slowing any additional expansions until closer to the Oscar nominations in early February. It’s had a negligible international run so far.
A JOURNAL FOR JORDAN (Columbia/Sony) fell 47% to $1.2M in Weekend 2, and probably won’t reach $10M in the US. It hasn’t yet opened overseas.
ENCANTO (Disney, also on Disney+) was down 42% to $1.1M, and seems unlikely to hit $100M in the US. It has $115M overseas.
LIMITED RELEASE: JOCKEY (Sony Classics) opened with a $1K weekend per-theater average at 3 arthouses. PARALLEL MOTHERS (Sony Classics) held well, down 21% to a $10.1K average at 3.
NEXT WEEKEND: The first wide opening of 2022 will be the long-postponed action movie THE 355 (Universal).
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