Box Office: Spider-Man: No Way Home & Sing 2 dominate the Christmas box office as The Matrix Resurrections & The King’s Man disappoint

Christmas was very kind to Spider-Man: No Way Home as the film continued to crush milestones in its second weekend and retained the top spot at the box office. Sing 2 managed to make an impression with families and has solid exit polling from moviegoers while everyone should be concerned about the performance of The Matrix Resurrections and The King’s Man.

Spider-Man: No Way Home grossed $81.5 million over the weekend which represented a 69% decline from last weekend’s three-day total. The percentage drop is a non-factor because the film has been performing like a weekend player daily since its release. The film earned the third-highest-grossing Christmas Day total with $31.7 million which comes after The Force Awakens ($49.3 million) and Rise of Skywalker ($32.1 million). Some may have expected a higher Christmas Day gross but falling on Saturday this year did cut into business a bit since most families wouldn’t head out to the movies until after dinner. The fact that No Way Home generated this total on a day when Christmas falls on a Saturday is actually quite impressive. The big news is that Spider-Man: No Way Home has generated a massive domestic total of $467.7 million in two weeks of release and there is more money to be made as we head into the new year. Globally, the film has grossed $1.05 billion which makes it the first movie of the COVID era to hit the billion-dollar milestone.

Debuting in second is Sing 2 with a three-day gross of $23.7 million and a five-day total of $41 million. While this is below the opening of the first film during the same time frame, this is a solid showing because it shows that parents were willing to take their kids to the film despite surging COVID cases. What’s encouraging for Sing 2 is that exit polling for the film from moviegoers is excellent and it received a rare “A+” CinemaScore from opening day audiences. With school out and more business likely coming its way, Sing 2 is going to find itself in pretty good shape as it’s likely to be the film that will come the closest to maintaining itself in the wake of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

The box office becomes concerning when we look at the number three debut of The Matrix Resurrections. The fourth film of the franchise grossed a mere $12 million over three days and $22.5 million over five. This is well below the five-day tracking total of $40 million+ that the film was looking at heading into the weekend and there are signs here that it’s going to be very hard for the movie to rebound from its sluggish start. The movie earned a “B-” CinemaScore which shows that fans are clearly divided on the film’s quality and then there is the HBO Max factor. The movie is also available on the streaming platform and that more than likely cut into its theatrical take. It should be pointed out that the three total for the Warner Bros. film is lower than the $16.7 million taken in by Wonder Woman 1984 last December and that Warner Bros. release had to deal with theaters being significantly more closed, including those in the robust markets of New York City and Los Angeles. There is going to be some money lost here and the industry will be paying attention to any data released, if any, regarding its performance on HBO Max to see if that will help some of the bleeding. Overseas, The Matrix Resurrections took in $35 million from 78 markets and brings its worldwide take to $69.8 million.

Debuting in fourth is another lackluster performer in The King’s Man. The frequently delayed prequel grossed a mere $6.3 million over three days and $10 million over five. This is well below the tracking figures of $20 million over five days and it was clear early on that the film was in trouble. The grosses for its first two days of release were lower than expected and that continued through the weekend. I can only imagine that there wasn’t enough interest in the film and it’s not like moviegoers weren’t aware of its existence. Ads for the film have been running for the last two years as the movie suffered several delays due to the pandemic. Perhaps moviegoers felt they already saw what they needed to see from it. The movie earned a “B+” CinemaScore which isn’t horrible but it’s also doesn’t indicate a swell of good word of mouth is headed its way. Overseas, the film took in $6.9 million from 7 international markets which brings its worldwide haul to $16.9 million.

Rounding out the top five is American Underdog which grossed $6.2 million in its first two days. This is exactly the outcome that Lionsgate was hoping for as the faith-based release played well to its target audience and likely benefitted from that holiday good cheer from moviegoers. The movie also earned an “A+” CinemaScore so we may see some steady word of mouth and legs from the film this week.

What are YOUR thoughts on this weekend’s box office results?