(Bloomberg) — Sony Group’s much-anticipated “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has been in theaters for less than a day, and it’s already setting records.
The film — which is set to deliver the biggest North American weekend debut in two years — brought in $50 million in ticket sales at Thursday previews, Sony said Friday. That’s more than half of the pandemic-era opening high set almost three months ago by the same company’s “Venom: Let There Be Carnage.”
“No Way Home” is providing a desperately needed jolt for cinemas that endured months of pandemic-prompted closures, followed by a bumpy recovery that’s seen even strongly reviewed films flop. Theaters are expected to collect about $4 billion in ticket sales domestically this year, a fraction of the $11.4 billion generated in 2019.
“No Way Home” delivered the best opening night of all time for Cinemark Holdings Inc., the theater chain said Friday. For AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc., the biggest operator, “No Way Home” scored its biggest December opening night ever, with 1.1 million admissions, and second highest of all time.
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Boxoffice Pro forecasts a North American opening weekend of $224 million for “No Way Home.” Sony has projected $130 million.
AMC, a meme stock that’s seen big swings this year, rose 19% on Friday to $29.12. Cinemark, meanwhile, was up .3% to $16.21.
(Updates shares in final paragraph)
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