Box office projections for the next entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: No Way Home, have been revealed and the multiversal superhero film is expected to be the highest-grossing pandemic era film by far and even go toe-to-toe with the MCU's highest-grossing film so far.
The prediction came from Box Office Pro, which cited strong early ticket sales and social media traction as positives towards the film's box office. The website concluded, "Across the board, the trilogy-capper generated early demand vastly ahead of every pandemic era release and on par with pre-pandemic mega-blockbusters in the Avengers and Star Wars franchises." It projected that Spider-Man: No Way Home would be the first film since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 to make $100 million in its opening weekend and the first film since 2019's Avengers: Endgame to make $200 million in the first weekend.
Box Office Pro did suggest that their projections are subject to change due to "potential volatility and shifting consumer habits." In the case of films like Dune and No Time to Die, early ticket sales were strong in the early days but dropped off in the weeks leading up to the film's premiere. However, Box Office Pro noted that ticket sales for No Way Home have remained strong since their release on Cyber Monday, which was renamed "Spider Monday" by passionate ticket buyers. Box Office Pro currently estimates Spider-Man: No Way Home to gross between $190 million and $250 million in its first three days.
Demand for tickets to No Way Home's opening weekend on Spider Monday were impressive and caused several online ticketing services, such as Fandango, to crash for the day. Fans who managed to get their tickets in advance turned to Twitter to celebrate, resulting in the phrase "I GOT THEM" being on of the social media site's trending topics. Tickets for the opening weekend became popping up on eBay with one being sold for $25,000 and in-person fistfights over tickets were recorded in Mexico.
Social media discussion about No Way Home has been active leading up to the MCU film also. Star Tom Holland posted a meme on his Instagram story about his own excitement for the upcoming film. The meme featured original Spider-Man star Tobey Maguire in the titular character's initial attempt at a costume when he competes in a wrestling match. Speculation about Maguire and Amazing Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield appearing as variants of Spider-Man in No Way Home has dominated online conversation, although their appearances remain unconfirmed.
Spider-Man: No Way Home swings into theaters on Dec. 17.
Source: Box Office Pro