Spider-Man: Homecoming’s $117 million 3-day total is the third best opening of 2017 so far, trailing only Beauty and the Beast ($174.8 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. ($146.5 million), though it does trail many of the early film incarnations of Spider-Man when adjusted for inflation, including Sam Raimi’s crucial 2002 blockbuster, which set a box office record with $114.8 million, which is the equivalent of $174 million today. Still Homecoming managed to best Marc Webb’s 2012 Amazing Spiderman ($62.5 million over the 3-day weekend, though comparisons are unfair because the film opened on Wednesday, July 3), as well as Webb’s 2014 Amazing Spider-Man 2, which earned $91.6 million ($98 million adjusted).
Spider-Man Homecoming also earned the best critical ratings (93% positive on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes) of any of the wall-crawler’s movies so far, and received an excellent “A” CinemaScore, from opening weekend audiences, which skewed male (60%) and younger with a whopping 50% of the audience under 25. The reviews and audience reaction all point to a nice long box office run, and after next week’s Battle for the Planet of the Apes, there are relatively few films targeting the youthful audience for superhero adventures. Working against Homecoming, which does have an outside shot at becoming the #1 film of the summer, is the over-familiarity of the mass audience with the character, whose origin stories are being retold on the screen for the third time since 2002.
Overseas Spider-Man: Homecoming opened in 56 territories (a bit over half the international market, though that sort of calculation is getting more difficult since China has become such a big player) and earned a very respectable $140 million. With debuts in China, France, Germany, Spain, and Japan yet to come, the full extent of Homecoming’s overseas potential remains to be seen.
Sony, which bankrolled and distributes Spider-Man: Homecoming, is in dire need of a blockbuster hit, so the successful debut of Homecoming is a real boon to the studio and a vindication of former Sony chief Amy Pascal’s decision to cede creative control of Spider-Man back to Marvel Studios. Of course Marvel Studios is an even bigger victor, since Homecoming’s success will only add to the luster of the Disney unit, which has a very enviable record of successes, none of which is probably more satisfying than turning around the cinematic fortunes of one Peter Parker.
Second place went to Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me 3, which dropped 53.1%, while bringing in an estimated $34 million to drive its domestic total to $149.2 million. Overseas the minion-filled threequel has earned $298 million for a worldwide total approaching $450 million. Despicable Me 3 also has a shot at becoming the #1 film of the summer, though it would have to be extremely “leggy” to get in the same ballpark with Guardians Vol. 2 and Wonder Woman, who are both approaching $400 million here in North America.
Even though it is a hit on a smaller scale, Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is another much-needed box office victory for Sony. Dropping only 38% in its second frame, the $34 million, music driven heist film has now earned $56.9 million domestically, and appears to be set for a nice long run as an urban hipster favorite.
Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman is without a doubt this summer’s leggiest hit. Dropping just 35.5% in its sixth frame, the distaff superhero saga earned $10.1 million to bring its domestic total to $368.8 million. So far Wonder Woman has managed to erase a $42 million gap between its opening total and that of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol.2. Patty Jenkins’ film is now running ahead of Guardians, and barring some unexpected collapse, should eclipse Vol.2 and become the highest-grossing film of the summer of 2017.
Heading in the opposite direction is Michael Bay’s Transformers: The Last Knight, which dropped 62.7% in its third weekend as it earned $6.3 million to bring its North American total to $118.9 million. The Last Knight is doing better overseas where it has earned $375.5 million, but it was so expensive to make ($217 million admitted production cost) that it is likely that it still hasn’t turned a profit. A “toyetic” franchise that has been as successful as the Transformers live-action films will always be a good candidate for revival, but it would appear that future films featuring the Autobots and Decepticons will likely be produced on a more modest scale.
Right behind Transformers in the #6 spot is Pixar’s Cars 3, which dropped 41.8% as it earned $5.6 million in its fourth weekend for a North American total of $133.7 million. With a slow international rollout, it will be some time before the financial fate of Cars 3 is settled, but it is already clear that Cars is Pixar’s least favorite franchise here in North America, and the fact that Cars 3 is actually a better film than Cars 2 hasn’t seemed to help its domestic performance.
Warner Bros.’ R-rated comedy The House dropped only 44.8% from its opening weekend, but that total was the lowest for any film starring Will Ferrell so far, and The House made just $4.8 million to bring its 10-day total to $18.6 million, a sorry start for a film that cost $40 million to produce.
The House played in 3,134 theaters and it earned only about $1 million more than the indie darling The Big Sick, which was shown in just 326 theaters and earned $3.7 million thanks to the second highest per-venue average in the top 10 ($11,196) trailing only Spider-Man: Homecoming ($26,912). The Big Sick goes wide next week, so expect that average to fall, but this romcom, which was written by Kumail Nanjiani and Emily Gordon, could still end up being the indie hit of the summer.
The last two spots in the top ten went to the leggy aquatic survival film 47 Meters Down, which was originally set to go direct to video, but has now earned $38.5 million, and Sofia Coppola’s period drama The Beguiled, a potential “arthouse” hit, which has now earned $7.4 million.
Be sure to check back here next weekend for what looks like a “Battle Royale” between the critically-lauded Spider-Man: Homecoming and the well-reviewed War For the Planet of the Apes (92% positive on Rotten Tomatoes), which opens in over 3,800 theaters.
