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WITH moviegoing slowed by the Covid-19 surge, Spider-Man: No Way Home easily clung to its box-office lead in North American theaters this weekend, industry data showed Sunday.
The Sony/Marvel superhero film, with Tom Holland as the popular web-slinger, took in an estimated US$11 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported. The movie has now led the domestic box office in six of its seven weekends out.
Its domestic total of US$735.9 million places it fourth all-time, trailing Star Wars: The Force Awakens at US$936.7 million, Avengers: Endgame at US$858.4 million and – possibly now within its reach – Avatar at US$760.5 million, according to Box Office Mojo, a division of the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
On a quiet weekend when pandemic-stung studios opted to issue no new wide releases, Paramount's latest chapter in the Scream franchise again took second place, grossing US$7.4 million. As in the horror flick's 1996 original, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette again star.
Third spot was also unchanged, with Universal's animated musical Sing 2 taking in US$4.8 million. Its all-star voice cast includes Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Matthew McConaughey, Pharrell Williams and Bono.
Hanging steady in fourth was Universal's Christian romance film Redeeming Love, at US$1.9 million. It offers a parable of sin and salvation in an Old West setting: California's 1849 Gold Rush.
And The King's Man, the spy action comedy from 20th Century, again made the top five, taking in US$1.8 million. Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans and Matthew Goode star. – AFP, January 31, 2022
