The Christmas period is one of the most lucrative frames of the year at the box office, and while we don’t know whether the Omicron variant has any plans to derail that tradition for the second consecutive annum, we’re still looking at one of the most stacked weekends we’ve seen for a long time.
The Matrix Resurrections hits theaters and HBO Max today, and it’ll soon by joined by fellow R-rated action-packed sequel The King’s Man, with animated follow up Sing 2 looking to offer family-friendly counter-programming. And yet, all three of those titles will be lucky if they combine to earn as much money as the all-conquering Spider-Man: No Way Home in its second weekend.
On top of those four aforementioned titles, Denzel Washington’s latest directorial effort A Journal for Jordan, Zachary Levi’s biopic American Underdog, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza and George Clooney’s The Tender Bar are set to create a pileup, but we already know who wins out in the end.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is tracking for a sophomore weekend in the $90 million range, but it may end up flying higher, so it’s going to be a scramble for the rest of the newcomers to convince audiences that they’re worth the cost of a ticket.