No Way Home trumps Omicron fears

First film since pandemic outbreak to cross USD 1 billion in box office collections

Entertainment

December 27, 2021

Avengers: Endgame and Spiderman: No Way Home two movies from Marvel which have crossed the USD 1 billion mark (Photo: Marvel)

Over the past many years, Marvel Studios has captivated audience and translated their love and respect for superheroes into billions of dollars in income through box office sales. Spiderman: No Way Home, Marvel’s latest creation has set a record of sorts, becoming the first film since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic to cross the USD 1 billion mark at the United States box office.

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Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, the producers of the latest superhero film, Spiderman: No Way Home announced that over the film crossed the USD 1 billion mark over the Christmas weekend, and was thus the first billion-dollar-grossing film of the pandemic era and also one of the fastest to cross USD 1 billion mark which it did in 12 days.

Spider-Man franchise is co-owned by Sony, Marvel and Disney and has been quite famous since its first film Spider-Man (2002). The first movie of the franchise starring Tobey Maguire, itself was quite famous and managed to grab USD 821.7 million worldwide making and was the third most grossing film of the year. Its successor Spider-Man 2 (2004) cornered over USD 788.6 million. The success of these films was repeated for subsequent releases. Over the years the main actor for the hero has been changed owing to Marvel’s “multiverse”.

Actor Tom Holland has been the face of Spiderman since 2016, in the film Captain America: Civil War. Since then, Holland has done three solo Spiderman movies. In 2017, he starred in Spiderman: Homecoming, which earned over USD 880 million worldwide. In 2019 he starred in Spiderman: Far from Home which grabbed over USD 1.1 billion and now in 2021, Spiderman: No Way Home.

Only two films till now have crossed the USD 1 billion mark so quickly. Both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame reached the landmark in just 11 days. Despite No Way Home being a Marvel movie, it is a surprise that the movie became a super-grosser since it hit the screens under the shadow of Omicron, the latest and most rapidly spreading variant of the coronavirus and just as governments around the world began reimposing bans on movement outside the home and large gatherings.

What do Indian fans have to say about the movie?

The film’s success is not limited to the United States or even Europe. Indeed, it has proven to be a hit in India as well and the fans throned the theatres to catch the latest offering.

“The movie had the collaboration of previous three spidermen (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland) in form of cameos, this comes as no surprise that the movie got the collection that it deserves due to the hype. Secondly, since it’s a Marvel movie it has to get a good collection as marvel has quite a fan base. Thirdly, the presence of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange also contributed to the popularity of No Way Home,” Bharat Naulakha, an avid Marvel Fan tells Media India Group.

India has a huge fan base for Marvel movies especially among the youth. Joe Russo an integral member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe or MCU, the co-director of Avengers: Endgame in an interview with Outlook, a weekly magazine, in 2019 said that India was a vast and growing market for them. With one of the recent release of Avengers: Eternals on November 7, 2021, first-day earnings totalled up to INR 73.5 million.

“The movie is worth watching and has satisfied all the build-up which was created before its release. The movie was well shot and having all the three Spidermans on the same screen was a delight to watch. As an avid Spider-man fan the movie was a delight to watch as it left all the landmarks and gave a nostalgic feeling to the viewers,” says Yash Amin, another Spider-man fan.

With the new looming threat Omicron variant of Covid-19, people are divided on watching the movies in theatres. “People have a lot of craze for movies and I personally don’t feel that people will stop going to the movies, especially when it’s from Marvel. OTT (Over The Top) platforms are great but they don’t set the environment for watching films as a movie hall or theatre does. Despite this new Omicron variant, I plan on watching films in the theatre provided they are functional” says Naulakha.

“This was the only movie I watched after the pandemic. Since it is a Spiderman movie I made an exception otherwise I prefer an OTT platform as it helps me watch the movies from the comfort of my home and safety,” says Amin.

However, as the pandemic is progressing entertainment industry is quick to recover as people have cultivated a habit over the strenuous lockdowns and want more media to consume. With stringent lockdowns a vacuum for the content was created and entertainment companies such as Marvel, DC, Warner Brother are looking to capitalise from this. The speedy collection of such hefty amount worldwide by Spiderman: No Way Home is an example of the market opportunity which is in front of the entertainment industry.