After six months, the 2019 box office could finally have a $100 million-plus opening from a non-Disney release, as Sony and Columbia Pictures will release Marvel Studios’ “Spider-Man: Far From Home” to kick off what could be a huge July for both the studio and movie theaters as a whole.
Sony is projecting the film to at least match the $154 million six-day start of “Homecoming.” Independent trackers agree with a $150-160 million opening, but analysts who spoke with TheWrap said that they believe a $180 million start is possible.
The sequel to 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” was originally set for a July 5 release, but in April, Sony moved the release date up to Tuesday, July 2 to take advantage of moviegoers on the July 4 holiday.
It’s unusual for a studio to directly profit from the success of another studio’s film, but this is the case with “Far From Home” thanks to the unique deal made between Sony and Disney to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Marvel fans still abuzz about the game-changing ending to “Avengers: Endgame,” “Far From Home” promises to show how the MCU is adjusting to life after Thanos and how Peter Parker is coping with the loss of his mentor, Tony Stark.
“Far From Home” could also provide some big clues about where the MCU is headed next, with trailers suggesting that the events of the past two “Avengers” films have created unforeseen consequences. If those clues create even half as much buzz as “Endgame” did, the word of mouth created by moviegoers who go see the film during the midweek holiday will only lead to even bigger turnouts during the weekend proper.
As for Sony, the studio will likely be looking forward to such success as “Men In Black: International” has received weak reviews and isn’t expected to have a strong opening this weekend. But this July could be a repeat of 2017 when the studio released both a highly-anticipated blockbuster with “Spider-Man: Homecoming” and an acclaimed original film with Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver,” which grossed $107.8 million domestically.
Similarly, Sony will accompany “Far From Home” with another original film from a well-known director: Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood.” While that film has a much larger budget — a reported $95 million compared to $35 million for “Baby Driver” — Tarantino holds a lot of weight among cinephiles, and critics who attended his newest film’s premiere at Cannes have praised it with a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score.
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” sees Tom Holland return as Peter Parker, as he goes with his high school friends on a European vacation as the world mourns the loss of Iron Man. But Spidey’s vacation is cut short as he is visited by Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), who informs him that the battle against Thanos has created dimensional chaos. Fury calls on Spider-Man to sort it all out with the help of a master of illusion from another dimension named Mysterio (Jake Gyllenhaal), but the newcomer may not be all that he says he is.
The sequel sees Jon Watts return as director along with original cast members Zendaya, Jon Favreau, Jacob Batalon, Tony Revolori, and Marisa Tomei. Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers wrote the script.