'Spider-Man: No Way Home' swings past $1 bn, first for Covid-era film

The pandemic intensified trends already at play in the movie industry

Spider-Man fans continued jamming theaters to see the newest instalment of the superhero franchise, putting aside concerns about rising Covid-19 cases and pushing the film beyond the $1 billion mark to become the top-grossing film of 2021 globally.
 
“Spider-Man: No Way Home” took in an estimated $81.5 million in domestic ticket sales in its second weekend, the studio behind the film, Sony Group, said on Sunday. The movie, produced along with Walt Disney’s Marvel Studios, had the second-biggest opening in Hollywood history last week, trailing only 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.”
 
As it has in so many businesses, the pandemic