With Omicron cases continuing to surge across the U.S. and the lucrative holiday moviegoing window now complete, the North American box office took a sharp downward turn in the first non-holiday weekend of the new year – though holdovers Spider-Man: No Way Home and Sing 2 both helped keep the marketplace afloat in the absence of any major new titles or expansions (ahead of next weekend’s release of Paramount’s new Scream sequel). The weekend’s only wide opener, Universal’s The 355, failed to register with audiences.
Finishing in first place for the fourth weekend in a row was Spider-Man: No Way Home, which continued to prove its durability as it dropped 41% to an estimated $33.02M. That brings the Sony/Marvel blockbuster to a phenomenal $668.75M since debuting on Dec. 17, surpassing the lifetime grosses of both Jurassic World ($652.4 million) and Titanic ($659.4 million). That makes it the sixth highest-grossing title of all time in North America and puts it within striking distance of Avengers: Infinity War, which finished its domestic run with $678.82M in 2018.
No Way Home also continued cleaning up overseas. The MCU installment grossed $64.4M from 63 markets, including $11.8M in Japan where the film opened this weekend. In the U.K., No Way Home crossed the $100M mark after taking in an estimated $6.2M. It’s now the second-highest-grossing film of all time in both Mexico and Indonesia, where it’s grossed $69.7M and $24.6M, respectively, as well as the second-highest-grossing Hollywood film of all time in India, where it has $35.3M. With a global tally of $1.53B (including $867.5M overseas), it’s now the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, having now surpassed The Avengers ($1.52B), Furious 7 ($1.52B), Frozen II ($1.45B) and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($1.4B).
Universal/Illumination’s Sing 2, which was released on PVOD this weekend earlier than expected – likely due to the Omicron explosion – fell 41% in its third weekend of release after easing just 10% in its sophomore frame. The animated sequel now has $109.01M domestic – a far cry from the original Sing, which had pulled in over $214 million by the end of its third weekend. That said, considering the state of the pandemic and the fact that many children in the film’s target age group haven’t yet had the opportunity to receive a vaccine, Sing 2 has had a relatively healthy run so far. It’s also worth noting that the sequel is officially the highest-grossing animated title of the pandemic era to date.
Universal also had the third-place title this weekend with the long-delayed The 355, which launched to an estimated $4.8M from 3,145 locations. Despite boasting a recognizable cast including Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Penelope Cruz and Sebastian Stan, the international action-thriller simply couldn’t garner much audience interest, and it wasn’t helped by a poor showing with critics (its Rotten Tomatoes score is an unfortunate ?%). While its B+ Cinemascore is more promising, the Bourne-style title seems destined to flame out quickly before reaching a wider audience on PVOD or streaming platforms. The 355‘s audience this weekend was 56% female, while 49% were over the age of 35.
The remainder of the top 10 is comprised of holdovers. Fourth place went to Disney/20th Century Studios’ The King’s Man, which has failed to match the success of the previous two entries in the franchise. The action prequel grossed an estimated $3.3M this weekend, giving it $25.1M through the end of its third frame. Overseas, The King’s Man grossed an estimated $13.4M from 43 markets, including new openings in Germany, Australia, Italy and Brazil, among others. Its international total is now $49.2M and its global tally is $74.3M.
American Underdog, the Kurt Warner biopic starring Zachary Levi, continues to enjoy reasonable traction with faith-based audiences as it took in an estimated $2.4M in its third weekend, good for No. 5 on the weekend tally, for a total of $18.74M.
Also in its third weekend, Warner Bros.’ The Matrix Resurrections – which was made available day-and-date on HBO Max – grossed an estimated $1.86M in sixth place. The franchise installment is quickly slipping off the radar theatrically and, with just $34.32M to date, it will finish its run as the lowest-grossing installment in the Matrix series by far. Internationally, the belated sequel took in an estimated $7.7M from 76 markets, bringing its overseas total to $90.2M and its global total to $124.5M.
Disney/20th Century Studios’ West Side Story finished in seventh place with an estimated $1.4M for a total of $32.2M through the end of its fifth weekend. Sony’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife followed at No. 8 with an estimated $1.14M, bringing the total for the franchise reboot to $125.06M.
Rounding out the top 10 are United Artists’ Licorice Pizza and House of Gucci, which finished the weekend with an estimated $1.03M and $632k, respectively. Licorice Pizza‘s total stands at $8.2M while Gucci has $50.09M after eight weekends.
Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates: January 7-9, 2022
| Title | Estimated weekend | % change | Locations | Location change | Average | Total | Weekend | Distributor |
| Spider-Man: No Way Home | $33,015,000 | -41% | 4,012 | -194 | $8,229 | $668,753,195 | 4 | Sony Pictures |
| Sing 2 | $11,950,000 | -41% | 3,713 | -179 | $3,218 | $109,012,985 | 3 | Universal |
| The 355 | $4,800,000 | 3,145 | $1,526 | $4,800,000 | 1 | Universal | ||
| The King’s Man | $3,272,000 | -28% | 3,040 | -140 | $1,076 | $25,091,034 | 3 | 20th Century Studios |
| American Underdog | $2,413,000 | -38% | 2,728 | -85 | $885 | $18,742,589 | 3 | Lionsgate |
| The Matrix Resurrections | $1,860,000 | -51% | 2,875 | -677 | $647 | $34,317,103 | 3 | Warner Bros. |
| West Side Story | $1,413,000 | -35% | 2,290 | -400 | $617 | $32,157,045 | 5 | 20th Century Studios |
| Ghostbusters: Afterlife | $1,140,000 | -23% | 1,501 | -144 | $759 | $125,064,125 | 8 | Sony Pictures |
| Licorice Pizza | $1,028,156 | -21% | 772 | -14 | $1,332 | $8,198,967 | 7 | United Artists |
| House of Gucci | $632,348 | -21% | 607 | -100 | $1,042 | $50,085,553 | 7 | United Artists |
| A Journal for Jordan | $605,000 | -50% | 1,850 | -650 | $327 | $5,863,134 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| Nightmare Alley | $592,000 | -39% | 1,200 | -710 | $493 | $8,737,697 | 4 | Searchlight |
| Encanto | $553,000 | -49% | 1,450 | -975 | $381 | $92,448,165 | 7 | Walt Disney |
| Red Rocket | $63,293 | -40% | 144 | -241 | $440 | $894,635 | 5 | A24 |
| Eternals | $58,000 | -45% | 130 | -45 | $446 | $164,801,418 | 10 | Walt Disney |
| Belfast | $30,000 | -7% | 67 | -10 | $448 | $6,955,205 | 9 | Focus Features |
| The French Dispatch | $27,000 | -15% | 45 | -10 | $600 | $16,047,722 | 12 | Searchlight |
| C’mon C’mon | $12,536 | 2% | 26 | n/c | $482 | $1,871,034 | 8 | A24 |
| Flee | $1,602 | -14% | 3 | -1 | $534 | $59,351 | 6 | Neon |
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