‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ sets UK-Ireland box office records with stunning £31.9m opening

GBP to USD conversion rate: 1.32

Sony blockbuster Spider-Man: No Way Home has recorded an astonishing £31.9m total opening session in the UK and Ireland – the fourth-highest ever in the territory.

The film took £19.5m on Friday to Sunday, added to a huge £12.39m from its first two days, including a £7.6m first day – the highest ever Wednesday opening in the UK and Ireland.

It surpasses the £25.9m opening of Universal’s No Time To Die from October; although that was from four days compared to No Way Home’s five. No Time To Die recorded a slightly higher first weekend of £21m.

No Way Home recorded a colossal location average of £47,921, comprised of £19,207 from Wednesday and Thursday in 645 sites; and £28,714 at the weekend alone in 679.

These figures top the £27,231 first weekend location average of No Time To Die.

The only titles with a full opening above No Way Home are 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the record-holder with £43.4m from four days; 2015’s Spectre with £41.3m from seven days; and 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens with £34m from three days.

Titles No Way Home has topped include 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War with £29.7m; and 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi with £28m.

No Way Home’s full opening and opening location average are both the highest in the territory since the pandemic began.

The figures form a significant part of an enormous $588m worldwide opening – the industry’s third biggest of all time. Sony will look to build on this strong start across the holiday period, with cinemas still able to operate at full capacity in the UK, and at 50% in Ireland.

No Way Home is the third stand-alone film for 2012 Screen Star of Tomorrow Tom Holland as the titular superhero, who must face up to foes from the past when a spell by Doctor Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, goes awry.

Further titles

Clifford The Big Red Dog, released by eOne in the UK and Ireland, held second spot in the chart, surpassing West Side Story. The film dropped 40% on its opening session, with £766,000 and £2.38m total.

Last week’s top title, Disney’s West Side Story, saw a 54.8% drop, with £587,000 taking it to £2.93m from two weekends.

Encanto, another Disney title, dropped 43.3% on its fourth weekend, with £360,000 bringing it to £4.76m.

Former number one House Of Gucci dropped 63% on its fourth weekend for Universal, with £288,852 taking it to £8.1m.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife added £166,000 – a sharp 71.4% drop – for Sony, and has £10.5m from five sessions.

Playing on Sunday, December 19, event cinema title The Nutcracker - Bolshoi Ballet 2021  grossed £83,143 from 156 locations through Trafalgar Releasing, at an average of £533.

James Bond blockbuster No Time To Die dropped 62.5% on an impressive 12^th session, with a £44,494 weekend. It has £96.4m total – the third-highest-grossing film of all time in the territory.

Sky Cinema’s A Boy Called Christmas, released in cinemas by Studiocanal, fell a slim 18% in its fourth weekend, with £90,755 taking it to £580,369.

Three Warner Bros titles are closing out their runs: Dune adding £22,977 for £21.8m, Boxing Day adding £22,563 for £598,143, and King Richard adding £9,878 for £1.5m.

Disney’s Marvel Studios blockbuster Eternals dropped 87.7% on its seventh weekend, with £18,800 taking it to £14.85m.

Valdimar Johannsson’s horror-thriller Lamb added £7,094 and has £81,244 from two weekends, through Mubi.

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