by Conan Simmons – December 27, 2021 – 3:47 pm
Christmas weekend and to no one’s surprise ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ once again dominated the Weekend Box Office Top 5. The Marvel adventure, co-produced by Sony, fell 68% for a total of $81.5 million in its sophomore weekend easily holding at number one ahead of a slew of newcomers.
The animated musical ‘Sing 2’, a sequel to the 2016 hit, raked in a healthy $23.8 million for second place proving what every loyal On Genre reader knows, that animation is consistently a good bet at the box office.
Debuting in third place is the sci-fi sequel ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ starring Keanu Reeves and Carrie Anne-Moss. A day-and-date release on HBO Max, in keeping with Warner Bros. year-long mistake, the cyberpunk fantasy took in a decent $12 million. Still, as everybody knows, the film would have made more if not available in the form of a made-for-tv movie which is really what all straight to streaming movies are the equivalent of.
Another sequel debuted in fourth place as ‘The King’s Man’ made $6.4 million, just a smidge less than last weekend’s second place film ‘Encanto’ made last weekend. The third film in the franchise based on the comic books by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons as published by Marvel Comics stars Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton and Rhys Ifans. Appearing in two films based on Marvel comics in the Weekend Box Office Top 5, Rhys Ifans is having a good Christmas with both ‘The King’s Man’ and as the Lizard in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’.
Living up to its name, the sports biopic ‘American Underdog’ rounded out the Weekend Box Office Top 5 with a total of $6.2 million. ‘American Underdog’, a biopic about National Football League quarterback Kurt Warner, stars Zachary Levi and Anna Paquin.
And if you’re among the many still holding out hope that Steven Spielberg’s remake of ‘West Side Story’ is going to pirouette into a box office winner you’re out of luck. The many box-office analysts that insisted the film would have legs have finally succumbed to the reality that On Genre told you about two weeks ago when we officially declared the movie a bomb. It’s okay to love a movie all you want but when it comes to box office performance, no matter how wacky Hollywood math is, the numbers don’t lie.
Speaking of box office performance, director Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest, ‘Licorice Pizza’, almost squeezed by ‘West Side Story’, which is sixth at the box office, for a run at the Top 5. ‘Licorice Pizza’ opened nationwide over the weekend after playing in limited release since the Thanksgiving holiday. P.T. Anderson’s film is shaping up to be a serious awards contender but, like all other movies this year, will be a longshot to overcome Jane Campion’s western, ‘The Power of the Dog’ starring Benedict Cumberbatch, for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars.
WEEKEND BOX OFFICE TOP 5
- ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ – $81.5 million – fantasy (drop $171.5 million, 68% down)
- ‘Sing 2’ – $23.8 million – animated (debut)
- ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ – $12 million – sci-fi (debut)
- ‘The King’s Man’ – $6.4 million – action adventure (debut)
- ‘American Underdog’ – $6 million – biopic (debut)
Total for the Weekend Box Office Top 5 comes to $129.9 million. This is a drop of $139.4 million, 52% down, from last weekend’s total of $269.3 million.
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ will be sticking to the top spot during the first month of the new year. The only upcoming release to stand a chance against the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is, ironically, the web-slinger’s nocturnal foe ‘Morbius’, starring Jared Leto as the living vampire, to be released in theaters January 28.
Happy New Year!