Spider-Man: No Way Home Becomes the Highest Grossing Movie of All-time in MENA

Spider-Man: No Way Home was the talk of the MCU community for months before its release. The internet was flooded with fan theories about multiple Spider-Man fighting together in the film, and people were convinced they had spotted Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield on set.

On December 16, 2021, Spider-Man finally made it into cinemas in MENA, and worldwide on December 17. The Multiverse brought both ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ and the ‘Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man’ to the big screen alongside Holland’s take on the ‘Web-slinging’ hero. In addition to them, several villains from previous Spider-Man films also made an appearance, matching the expectations of the MCU Spiderman fans as well as the general audience.

The Movie has been shattering records ever since. While receiving much praise from both fans and critics around the world, it has now earned a sweet spot on the domestic box office list in the US and has become the fourth highest-grossing film of all time. The movie raked up a US$ 702.6 million in ticket sales in the US alone since its release, and US$ 1.6 billion globally, making it the eighth highest-grossing film at the global box office.

Sony Pictures MENA Marketing Director Charbel Zakhour recently announced on LinkedIn that Spider-Man: No Way Home has officially become the No.1 Grossing Film in the MENA region. This box office success reaffirms the unmatched impact theatrical releases can have in times post the outbreak of the pandemic. Spider-Man: No Way Home also demolished any preconceived notions about how much a major theatrical blockbuster could gross in these times.

As a result of this success, the industry has maintained a V-shaped recovery since the disruption caused by the pandemic, and we are looking forward to a positive year in 2022.

What’s Buzzin Behind The Screen – Industry News – January 2022

In this edition of ‘What’s Buzzin Behind the Screen’, we bring you the latest industry news – everything you need to know about what’s happening behind the scenes in Hollywood. From the latest trailer releases to box office collections and movie announcements, here’s the January 2022 update:

1. Given the cinema closures and audience worries during the pandemic, there have been some successful movies in 2021. But it took the MCU to deliver a true blockbuster, as Spider-Man: No Way Home crossed the $1 billion mark globally just 12 days after it was released. As of now, the movie is at $1.05 billion, making it the third-fastest film to reach that mark, after Avengers: Infinity War and the top title holder Avengers: Endgame.

2. For the second year in a row, China ended 2021 as the world’s largest theatrical film market. Total movie ticket revenue in the country clocked in at $7.3 billion (RMB 47.3 billion, assuming an average annual exchange rate of RMB 6.45 to $1), more than double last year’s total and down just 26 percent from a pre-pandemic high of $9.2 billion (RMB 64.3 billion) in 2019, according to data from regional box office tracker Artisan Gateway.

3. Josh Hartnett is the newest addition to Christopher Nolan‘s Oppenheimer, despite already including Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, and Rami Malek. The movie is set in the backdrop of WWII, and portrays the life of scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in developing the atomic bomb.

4. Actors today are increasingly interested in portraying Hollywood luminaries of the golden age. Both Jamie Bell and Tom Holland have been linked with Fred Astaire in the last couple of years and now Chris Evans is rumored to be playing Gene Kelly in a new movie. The movie will revolve around 12-year-old boy working at the MGM lot in 1952 who develops an imaginary friendship with legendary movie star Kelly while he works on his next film.

5. Taika Waititi is directing an adaptation of Alejandro Jodorowsky and Mœbius’ graphic novel The Incal – an epic space opera, which follows P.I. John Difool who stumbles upon a mystical artifact which forces him on a journey to save the universe. As for Waititi, his next project to arrive in theaters will be Thor: Love and Thunder, and he’s also working on a Star Wars movie.

6. With Encanto out in the world, Disney has now announced its next big animation project –Strange World. The movie will tell the story of an uncharted and treacherous land where fantastical creatures await the legendary Clades, a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest — and by far — most crucial mission. A November 2022 release date has been set for the movie directed by Don Hall.

7. Dave Bautista, who had a great year in 2021 with Dune and Army Of The Dead, now plans to add another respected director to his impressive list of collaborators as he has signed on to direct M Night Shyamalan‘s next film, Knock At The Cabin. The filmmaker’s follow-up to Old is, naturally, a complete mystery so far, with Shyamalan merely teasing the title. Bautista is also involved in Rian Johnson‘s Knives Out 2 and is currently working with James Gunn on Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3.

8. The reuniting of Patty Jenkins and Gal Gadot from Wonder Woman will have to stand in line. Jenkins has stepped down as director of Cleopatra, a chronological thriller starring Gadot as Egypt’s renowned ruler. The director of the Marvel superhit The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, namely, Kari Skogland will now be directing the movie. However, Patty Jenkins will not leave the filming completely. She’ll continue to produce Cleopatra as she concentrates on her following two films, Warner Bros.’ Wonder Woman 3 as well as Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Stay tuned for the latest industry news in our February 2022 edition.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Empire Online

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Avengers: Endgame Sets a New Benchmark in the World of Cinema

Avengers: Endgame marks the culmination of what is arguably Hollywood’s greatest ever storyline, one which began with the release of Iron Man more than a decade ago and has captured the imagination of a generation ever since. This blockbuster has broken several records in the past few months which include – the highest-grossing worldwide opening weekend, highest admissions in the UAE, highest trailer views within 24 hours and the longest runtime in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).

The unprecedented anticipation surrounding this film has led to exceptional box office numbers.

Highest-Grossing Worldwide Opening Weekend

As announced by Disney, Avengers: Endgame pulled in an estimated $1.2 billion in worldwide box office in its opening weekend –  effortlessly smashing the record of $640.5 million done by Avengers: Infinity War which released last year. The figure makes this star-studded movie the first film in history to surpass $1 billion in ticket sales in its debut weekend – creating a new benchmark in the world of cinema.

Highest UAE Admissions

With over 485k admissions, Avengers: Endgame broke records in the UAE for having the highest admissions in the first four days since its release (Wednesday 24^th April – Saturday 27^th April 2019), beating the record held by The Fate of the Furious (2017) by 39%.

Last year, Avengers: Infinity War ran for a total of 23 weeks in the UAE and did over 730,00 admissions, making it the No. 1 movie in UAE’s ‘Top 10 Movies of 2017’. Avengers: Endgame is most likely to garner a larger lifetime admission figure of close to 750k admissions in the UAE.

As per Gulf News, a Disney source confirmed that Avengers: Endgame released across 300 screens and has collected Dh26.4 million since its opening day. A well-placed UAE cinema source also stated that the 22^nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe recorded well over 500k admissions across the first five days of its screening, becoming the biggest film to ever release in the country.

As of May 7th 2019, the movie has done over Dh40 million at UAE box office.

VOX Cinemas has also confirmed Endgame’s record run since its opening. As per a spokesperson from VOX, “Avengers: Endgame broke our record for advance ticket sales, more than doubling the number of tickets sold in our previous record for the film Baahubali 2. The movie contributed [towards] 80 per cent of the three-day weekend box office and the highest recorded admissions across VOX Cinemas on 26^th April 2019.”

Reel Cinemas reported a ‘record-shattering’ opening weekend with the release of Avengers: Endgame, adding that it had doubled its box-office results over its prequal – which took six days to reach the same collection.

VOX Cinemas and Reel Cinemas, together with other cinema exhibitors across the Middle East – such as AMC Cinemas (KSA), screened the movie throughout the day (on a 24-hour basis) during the opening weekend to match the demand of ticket sales.

In addition to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, VOX Cinemas also confirmed that the film broke records in Muscat (Oman) and Kuwait.

Highest Trailer Views

According to Disney, the first official trailer of Avengers: Endgame – released on December 7th 2018, is the most viewed trailer across 24 hours in movie history with over 289 million views (tabulated across multiple platforms – YouTube, Facebook and Twitter). This anticipated trailer surpassed previous records set by Avengers: Infinity War of 230 million views and The Lion King teaser which racked up 224.6 million views.

Longest Runtime in the MCU

While most MCU movies are over two hours long, Avengers: Endgame is the first installment to cross the three-hours threshold with a runtime of 3 hours and 2 minutes – 22 minutes longer than Avengers: Infinity War.

In 2018, not only did Avengers: Infinity War top the worldwide box office, but it was also the only movie to hit more than the $2 Billion mark in worldwide box office revenue of 2018 – making it the fourth highest grossing movie of all time after Avatar (2009), Titanic (1997) and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). Avengers: Endgame is forecasted to be an even bigger hit than its prequel, and moreover, it has a chance of becoming the highest-grossing film of all time – on pace to dethrone Avatar.

Avengers: Endgame is expected to gather momentum as one of the most successful movies in history with fans already booking to watch the movie for the second time round.

Upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films:

Spider-Man: Far from Home –  4th July 2019
Black Widow – 1^st May 2020
The Eternals – 6^th November 2020
Black Panther 2 – 12^th February 2021
Shang-Chi – 7^th May 2021
Doctor Strange 2 – 5^th November 2021
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – 6^th May 2022

Sources: Screenrant, Hollywood Reporter, Gulf News, , The National, Arabian Business and CNBC