The extended re-release of 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home could potentially hit #1 again at this weekend's box office. The film was the fourth theatrical entry in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the third entry to be centered around Tom Holland's Spider-Man. It followed Peter Parker as he asked Doctor Strange to cast a spell to make people forget his secret identity, which goes horribly wrong and causes the multiverse to start collapsing in on itself. This results in drawing in villains from previous Spider-Man films, including Thomas Haden Church as Sandman, Rhys Ifans as Lizard, Jamie Foxx as Electro, Alfred Molina as Doc Ock, and Willem Dafoe as the Green Goblin.
Spider-Man: No Way Home came to theaters on December 21, 2021 as one of the most hotly anticipated Marvel movies of the year, surrounded by the rumors (which turned out to be true) of Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprising their roles as Peter Parkers from other universes. However, what almost nobody expected was how successful the film would end up being, continuing to rake in cash hand over fist several months into its run, eventually racking up a $1.9 billion worldwide gross and becoming the third highest-grossing domestic film of all time. This weekend, Marvel is likely hoping to garner even more success with the release of the extended Spider-Man: No Way Home The More Fun Stuff Version, which has an additional eleven minutes of footage added, including a new post-credits scene.
Related: Everything Added In Spider-Man: No Way Home's "More Fun Stuff" Version
Per Variety, in a dismally slow Labor Day weekend with the only new release being the Sundance comedy Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. (which is also streaming simultaneously on Peacock), Spider-Man: No Way Home The More Fun Stuff Version has a chance to hit #1 for the weekend, which would be its seventh after topping three weekends in 2021 and three more this January. Its Labor Day weekend four-day total is currently projected to be $6.1 million, which is about on par with what it was making later in its run over Presidents' Day weekend this February.
This is certainly a sterling accomplishment for a movie that is nearly a year old at this point. It is even competing heavily against Thor: Love and Thunder, which is still in theaters following its premiere on July 8, 2022. That film is projected to make a total of $2.89 million this weekend, its ninth in theaters. To compare, in its original run, Spider-Man: No Way Home was still making a weekend gross of about $5-$6 million that late in the game.
While this is certainly a feather in the cap for Spider-Man: No Way Home, this #1 weekend likely won't help it break any more records. In order for the film to surpass the total gross of 2019's megahit Avengers: Endgame, it would have to make $54 million, which doesn't seem within the scope of this re-release, successful as it is. Now that the film is easily accessible on VOD and physical media, this release is more of a victory lap than a genuine attempt to claim that throne.
Source: Variety