‘Spider-Man, ‘Belfast’ Duel for U.K. Box-Office Crown

Refresh for latest…: Hitting 15 offshore markets ahead of its domestic debut and further overseas expansion next weekend, Sony’s Uncharted mapped out an international box office launch of $21.5M. The Tom Holland/Mark Wahlberg-starrer was No. 1 in each of its openings, taking advantage of school holidays in some markets and, of course, the Spider-Man Holland halo.

record-breaking Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast” is a semi-autographical film about a young boy named Buddy who lives in Belfast, Ireland in the late 1960s. His childhood is uprooted when civil war hits, forcing his tight-knit, working-class family to choose whether they should leave their longtime home.

Films from Belfast to Drive My Car, from The Worst Person In The World to Nightmare Alley saw ticket sales pop after Academy Award nominations and as distributors kick into high gear for this weekend and beyond, juggling theater counts and ramped up media campaigns that now have a shiny new imprimatur.

Sony Pictures Television and WarnerMedia have extended a content deal that will see the likes of Spider Man: No Way Home and Ghostbusters: Afterlife made available on HBO Max and HBO channels across Central Eastern Europe.

Just as President Biden’s top medical adviser Anthony Fauci is declaring that the U.S. is exiting “the full-blown pandemic phase” of Covid, three studios are hoping to lure out adult audiences, largely women who’ve been slow to return to cinemas.

Belfast , which landed in cinemas in Northern Ireland two weeks ago, has received six nominations for this year's BAFTA ( British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Awards. The film, a black-and-white family drama about Northern Ireland on the brink of the troubles in the late 1960s, was inspired by Branagh's own upbringing in Belfast.

Naman Ramachandran The reign of Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” atop the U.K. and Ireland box office has finally ended with Universal’s animation sequel “Sing 2” claiming the throne.“Sing 2,” directed by Garth Jennings and featuring a stellar voice cast of Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson and Taron Egerton among many others, debuted in pole position with £6.8 million ($9.2 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. Another Universal release, Kenneth Branagh’s awards season favorite “Belfast,” retained its second position from last week with £1.8 million and now has £6 million after two weekends.After six weeks as box office champion, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” placed third with £1.7 million.

For the first decade of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man was the biggest name in Marvel Studios. If you wanted to kickstart a franchise, just use Iron Man.

Refresh for latest…: Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home scaled fresh heights this session as it reached an amazing new milestone by crossing the $1B mark at the international box office. The offshore cume through Sunday is an estimated $1.003B for a global total of $1.74B.

Scream” back to the number two spot.

J. Kim Murphy Another weekend, another easy No.

The plaudits for “Belfast” seem to be endless. They started in September at the Toronto film festival, where Kenneth Branagh’s coming-of-age-movie set in 1969 won the People’s Choice Award. And they’ve kept pouring in ever since, in the form of nominations from dozens of prominent critics groups and guilds.

Caitriona Balfe has opened up about the challenges of filming the latest instalment of Outlander while pregnant.

Critically acclaimed specialty holdovers continued to plant their flags in theaters as awards season advances and Oscar nominations loom — and on a weekend with few new releases, most not reporting grosses today.

Refresh for latest…: With an amazing $1.69B worldwide cume through Sunday, Sony/Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home has become the No. 6 film ever globally, passing Jurassic World ($1.67B) and The Lion King ($1.662B) to get there. This includes a running $970.1M from the international box office, which should portend an eventual $1B overseas gross — and without a China bump. Domestic is at $721M+.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterIt’s Peter Parker’s world, we’re just living in it.After a brief hiatus to let another movie sell a few tickets, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” has unseated “Scream” and reclaimed the top spot on domestic box office charts. Now in its sixth weekend of release, Sony’s comic book sequel has added another $14.1 million from 3,705 North American venues.It’s rare for any film to secure the No. 1 slot in its sixth outing, though “Spider-Man: No Way Home” didn’t have much in the way of competition.