Will Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Box Office Beat Avengers: Endgame?

Caution: Spoilers Ahead for Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home’s box office is on a record-setting pace that could be comparable to Avengers: Endgame. Marvel Studios’ culmination of a 22-film story told over 11 years set box office records upon its release in 2019. Avengers: Endgame momentarily became the biggest movie ever made, and it seemed as though it could be one of the last mega-box office hits for quite some time due to COVID-19. However, Spider-Man: No Way Home’s release gives it a shot of potentially beating Endgame’s box office.

With Marvel releasing four new films in 2021, it was clear that Spider-Man: No Way Home was in a league of its own when it came to anticipation and box office potential. Black Widow had a strong performance in theaters, especially with it also being released on Disney+ via Premier Access at the same time. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings proved to be a bigger hit as audiences loved meeting the newest Marvel Cinematic Universe hero. Meanwhile, Eternals came in under those movies after a divisive response from critics and general audiences. All signs pointed to No Way Home’s box office easily eclipsing what the other MCU 2021 titles did, but it was not clear how well it would stack up against the MCU’s heavy-hitters and the all-time box office charts.

Early projections for Spider-Man: No Way Home were quite promising, and Tom Holland’s third solo film has exceeded all expectations on that front. Its performance is on par with some of the biggest movies of all time, including Avengers: Endgame. The film still has a long way to go before any final box office figures are tallied, but the discussion has already begun as to whether or not it can beat Endgame or even topple James Cameron’s Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all time.

Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Box Office Success & Records Explained

The success of Spider-Man: No Way Home’s box office began immediately and hasn’t slowed down. At the time of this writing, the movie has made more than $1.3 billion worldwide. No Way Home has earned more than $600 million domestically, with an additional $750+ million coming from international territories. It already sits as the 12th highest-grossing movie of all-time worldwide and the 10th biggest movie ever domestically. The film will easily pass The Avengers’ $623M domestic total as some projections have it finishing in the high $700M or low $800M range. Worldwide, Spider-Man: No Way Home’s box office will soon pass Avengers: Age of Ultron after it eclipsed Black Panther to become the MCU’s highest-grossing non-Avengers movie.

This performance has led Spider-Man: No Way Home to break multiple box office records. The theatrical business hasn’t been the same since COVID-19 began in early 2020, but the new MCU movie is the first to perform like a pre-pandemic title. Spider-Man: No Way Home became the first movie post-pandemic to earn more than $1B worldwide or open to more than $100M domestically (where it made $260M in its first weekend). It has also become Sony’s biggest movie ever in the UK, and the highest-grossing Spider-Man movie ever made, eclipsing Spider-Man: Far From Home.

Plenty of factors contributed to Spider-Man: No Way Home’s record box office performance. The movie’s great reviews and word of mouth have certainly helped generate more interest. However, the constant rumors and continued hype that Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland would share the screen undoubtedly propelled Spider-Man: No Way Home’s interest upward. It became a true event that multiple generations of Spider-Man fans wanted to see. Since Sony and Marvel released the movie a week before Christmas, it has flourished over the holidays when families typically spend more time together as parents might have time off from work and kids don’t have to go to school. The rewarding nature of repeat viewings also may have helped Spider-Man: No Way Home’s box office achieve these heights.

Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Box Office Could Beat Avengers: Infinity War

Although there are a few different titles domestically and globally that Spider-Man: No Way Home needs to pass first, the movie’s next significant accomplishment could be passing Avengers: Infinity War. The 19th MCU movie was released in 2018 and immediately set box office records for the biggest opening weekend ever, and it also became the fourth movie at that time to ever make more than $2B worldwide. With its 2020 re-release included, Avengers: Infinity War has a box office total of $2.048B. Spider-Man: No Way Home is still roughly $700M away from that mark. There is an outside chance that it could catch Infinity War.

Looking at daily comparisons for the two MCU movies, Spider-Man: No Way Home has already outpaced Avengers: Infinity War a few times. Holland’s solo film had a higher opening weekend than the third Avengers film, including a significantly higher opening day. Spider-Man: No Way Home did have a bigger second-weekend drop due to Christmas, but it still finished that weekend with a higher overall domestic total than Avengers: Infinity War. The movie should continue to dominate the box office in the coming weeks. There is minimal competition for the MCU movie throughout January, with Sony’s Morbius the first film that could potentially dethrone Spider-Man: No Way Home for the #1 weekend spot. The movie will also receive a boost when it releases in Japan on January 7, 2022. If China approves it for release as well, then Spider-Man: No Way Home could have enough left in its tank to topple Avengers: Infinity War.

Will Spider-Man: No Way Home’s Box Office Beat Avengers: Endgame?

Passing Avengers: Infinity War would be an impressive feat, but that is likely as high as Spider-Man: No Way Home will climb for the MCU, as it is much harder to imagine it overtakes Avengers: Endgame. The record-shattering 2019 superhero movie made nearly $2.8B at the worldwide box office. The new Spider-Man movie would need to more than double its current total to achieve this goal. Spider-Man: No Way Home has always been behind Avengers: Endgame’s pace, and while the latter had its legs shortened by a summer full of movies, the odds of Spidey’s solo film catching up is difficult to fathom.

If Spider-Man: No Way Home even has a chance of beating Avengers: Endgame, a Chinese release is a must. China has become the biggest cinema location globally, and the MCU has thrived there in recent years. Avengers: Endgame benefitted greatly from a Chinese release, as it made $614M in the Middle Kingdom. It is not yet confirmed if or when Spider-Man: No Way Home will be released in China. The franchise has had success there in the past, though, as Spider-Man: Far From Home made nearly $200M in China. Spider-Man: No Way Home will have to hope audiences there are as interested in seeing three generations of Spider-Man actors fight past villains as they were to see every MCU hero unite against Thanos.

Even if Spider-Man: No Way Home doesn’t beat Avengers: Endgame, it is still impressive that it is even possible. It was widely expected that the next MCU movie to have a chance at challenging Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame would have to be even bigger in scope. That is why something like Secret Wars is always tossed around as an idea for the MCU’s next big crossover. However, Spider-Man: No Way Home shows that the MCU brand and a nostalgic cast are recipes for a record box office performance.

Will Spider-Man: No Way Home Become The Highest Grossing Movie Of All Time?

If Spider-Man: No Way Home continues to exceed expectations and beat Avengers: Endgame, it could become the highest-grossing movie of all time, passing Avatar. However, that seems to be out of the question for all the reasons mentioned above. It would likely require Spider-Man: No Way Home to be one of the biggest Hollywood hits in China ever and continue to be the clear choice for audiences at cinemas worldwide. That might not even be enough to make up the nearly $1.5B difference between Spider-Man: No Way Home and Avatar. Sony could employ some extra tricks to try and bolster the film’s box office later on, though. Spider-Man: Far From Home received an extended cut in theaters, so Sony and Marvel could do the same here. Adding more footage of the multiverse villains or Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Men could draw most viewers back to see Spider-Man: No Way Home again.

Assuming Spider-Man: No Way Home doesn’t do the impossible to top Avatar, it not becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time is hardly a disappointment. There weren’t many predictions for it to become one of the five biggest movies ever potentially. It has already turned a profit for Sony (and Marvel Studios) and ignited conversations about Spider-Man 4 kicking off a new trilogy for Tom Holland. Those movies will presumably have a tough time matching Spider-Man: No Way Home’s dominating box office performance no matter what they include too.

About The Author

Cooper Hood
(5616 Articles Published)

Cooper Hood is a news and feature writer for Screen Rant. He joined Screen Rant in late 2016 following a year-long stint with MCU Exchange, which came after first developing an MCU blog of his own. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media & Public Communication, with a minor in Media Production. Cooper’s love for movies began by watching Toy Story and Lion King on repeat as a child, but it wasn’t until The Avengers that he took an invested interest in movies and the filmmaking process, leading him to discover the world of film journalism. Every year Cooper looks forward to seeing the latest blockbusters from the likes of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, but also loves the rush to catch up on Oscar films near the end of the year. When he isn’t writing about or watching new releases, Cooper is a fantasy football obsessive and looking to expand his Blu-Ray collection – because physical media is still king! Follow Cooper on Twitter @MovieCooper.

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