Spider-Man is already having an amazing summer at the box office, with SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME kicking things off with a record-breaking $39 million on Tuesday, having the best Wednesday of any Marvel movie with $27 million and now having the second best Fourth of July on record with a spectacular $25 million. That brings the superhero sequel’s total up to an excellent $91 million across its first three days and is now on its way to an even more heroic opening weekend.
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The total comes in under the record-holder for the best Fourth of July total ever – TRANSFORMERS’ $29 million in 2007 – but just a cut above the totals of DESPICABLE ME 2 ($24.5 million), and THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ($23 million). As Deadline notes, FAR FROM HOME’s July 4 total marks a 7% drop from Wednesday, which is incredible given that ticket sales on the holiday often decline by as much as 30% from the previous day, so the sequel is showing some rather amazing legs already. The movie stars Tom Holland, Zendaya, Samuel L. Jackson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Cobie Smulders and Jon Favreau, and comes after 2017's SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING and it's $117 million opening weekend.
Helping matters is the Marvel brand and the continuation of the story after AVENGERS: ENDGAME left things on quite the massive note in April, as well as no shortage of great word-of-mouth. The movie currently has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, the same as HOMECOMING, and a stellar 97% audience score from the first crowds to see it. Such positive response going into the weekend should help it reach the loftier end of projections, and while studio Sony is remaining cautious by estimating about $130-150 million total by the end, some are saying it could hit as high as $170-190 million, even nearing $200 million.
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While Spider-Man is taking away much of the business, projections are still looking solid for another release this week – the new horror movie MIDSOMMAR. Director Ari Aster’s follow-up to last year’s HEREDITARY made about $1.3 million yesterday after making $3.2 million on its opening day on Wednesday, bringing the total to about $4.5 million so far. A24’s latest should be looking alright going into the weekend, with projections at about $13-15 million. Reviews have not been as good as HEREDITARY, but aren’t too shabby nonetheless with an 81% Rotten Tomatoes score and a 70% audience score so far. On that note, the CinemaScore for MIDSOMMAR is at about a C+, which is higher than the D+ score audiences gave HEREDITARY last year.
The horror flick is still expected to face some big competition with repeating movies like TOY STORY 4, Danny Boyle’s YESTERDAY and ANNABELLE COMES HOME. Making about $7 million on Wednesday (July 4 numbers are not up at the moment) for a $265 million frame, the former is expected to easily win second place, likely to cross $300 million by the end of the weekend. The animated fourquel is outpacing its predecessor, TOY STORY 3, which had made about $251 million at this same point (13 days in release) back in 2010.
SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME and MIDSOMMAR are in theaters now.