By Chris Kavan - 12/22/21 at 12:06 PM CT
While the ratings bulletin is once again on the light side, the major fireworks this weekend were provided by Spider-Man: No Way Home, which opened to some super-heroic number, both at home and abroad. Even as the Omicron variant threatens the carefully laid plans for Covid, for at least one moment we can celebrate some good news.
All the big news this weekend involved Spider-Man: No Way Home. By far the biggest opening of the year - it was one of the biggest openings of all time - final tally, $260.1 million, the second-biggest domestic opening of all time behind only Avengers: Endgame ($357.1 million). It's single-day Friday total of $121 million was the only film of 2021 to open above $100 million, Venom: Let There Be Carnage topped out at $90 million. That opening also bested the two previous Tom Holland-led Spider-Man films, Homecoming topped out at $117 million while Far From Home opened to $92.6 million. And it looked just as impressive overseas with a $334.2 million opening (not even including China) for a $594.3 million total worldwide - the third biggest even behind only the last two Avengers films. Those are eye-popping numbers, blowing away all predictions which had it opening in the $150 million range. And it doesn't look like this film is going to slow down any time soon even with competition on the way. Critics have this sitting at 94% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes while audiences awarded it the rare "A+" Cinemascore - meaning people are either going to come back or recommend it to everyone under the sun and with a big vacation period coming up, I think a lot of eyeballs are going to see this one.
With No Way Home pretty much dominated the box office, the other fends had to fend for the scraps. Encanto enchanted its way to $6.48 million (down 35.1%) for a new total of $81.5 million. With an additional $94 million overseas, the film crossed $175 million worldwide total for a final tally of $175.5 million.
In third place, Steven Spielberg's musical adaptation of West Side Story took a hefty 65,4% hit over its disappointing opening (and squashing any hopes for A Greatest Showman-like resurgence) and just edged out Ghostbusters: Afterlife with a $3.6 million weekend and a new $18.2 million domestic total. It has only managed $9.1 million overseas for a worldwide total of just over $27 million.
Ghostbusters: Afterlife fell about 52% and came up just behind West Side Story with $3.4 million, giving the sequel a $117.2 million total and another $56.4 million from overseas, falling just short of $175 million with a $173.6 million total.
Rounding out the top five, and another victim of high-brow adult fare not being able to attract its target audience, Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley, starring the powerhouse cast of Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen and David Strathairn, had a muted opening of just $2.8 million in fifth place. While critics were happy enough, awarding the film an 81% Fresh rating, it just didn't generate much buzz and was drowned out by Spider-Man. The $60 million film isn't going to be profitable no matter how to stretch the numbers.
Next week brings a bunch of new wide release, including The Matrix Resurrections, Sing 2 and The King's Man - but don't be at all surprised if Spider-Man swings away with another box office win.
While last week brought a big list with nothing to talk about on the MPAA Ratings Bulletin, this week at least has one wide release going for it and families are sure to be happy.
Our one, lone standout this time around happens to be all about The Bad Guys, but don't worry, this isn't some violent caper, but rather an animated caper following a group of carreer bad guys - Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos) and Mr. Shark (
Craig Robinson) - and yes, adults, I too am getting flashbacks to Reservoir Dogs, but that's okay. Now set your mind to the dulcet tones of Billie Eilish as our story unfolds and "GASP" it turns out maybe our bad guys actually want to be good guys for once - even if it goes against everything in their nature. But a kindly reporter Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz) and a scientist Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade) may have just the ticket to their rehabilitation in the form of an animal testing facility that needs liberating. Sure being bad may feel so good - buy maybe being good isn't so bad. BAM - hit you with the knowledge drop right there, people! This looks like the type of film that appeals to both the kids and adults - which is always a nice touch. We'll see if it pulls off the ultimate heist next April. Rated PG for action and rude humor.
That's your one film of note from the MPAA Ratings Bulletin this week, but you can check out the full list below:
APOLLO 10 1/2
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material, injury images, and smoking.
THE BAD GUYS
Rated PG for action and rude humor.
CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY
Rated PG-13 for some suggestive material and thematic elements.
CRAWLSPACE
Rated R for violence, language throughout, drug use and some sexual references.
FORTRESS: SNIPER'S EYE
Rated R for violence and language.
GREEN GHOST & THE MASTERS OF THE STONE
Rated PG-13 for violence and language.
THE IN BETWEEN
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, brief strong language and some thematic material.
MEMORIA
Rated PG for some thematic elements and brief language.
MY SWEET MONSTER
Rated PG for action, peril and some thematic elements.
THE SURVIVOR
Rated R for disturbing violent content, language and some nudity.
WE WILL BE MONSTERS: EPISODE 2
Rated PG for some violence and scary images.
WE WILL BE MONSTERS: EPISODE 3
Rated PG for scary images.
X
Rated R for strong bloody violence and gore, strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language.
YOU WON'T BE ALONE
Rated R for violence and gore, sexual content, graphic nudity and sexual assault.
