UPDATE: Global numbers are in for Spider-Man: No Way Home. The film is the third-highest global debut ever (not adjusted for inflation). In total, No Way Home took in $587 million in all territories over its first three days in theaters. Original story below:

Spider-Man: No Way Home has launched itself into the stratosphere with an opening weekend that is the third-best in cinema history. The film, which premiered on December 17, is the centerpiece of several franchises simultaneously. In addition to being the fourth film in Phase 4 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and the first to star a returning hero without being a prequel), it is also the third film in Tom Holland's solo Spider-Man trilogy, as well as being the eighth live-action Spider-Man film since the beginning of the millennium across three different chronologies.

No Way Home is paying an incredible homage to those previous iterations of Spider-Man, as well. The plot, which picks up with Peter Parker after his secret identity has been revealed to the world, follows him as he asks Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch, making his Spider-Man debut) to enact a spell making it so that incident never happened. That spell will have disastrous consequences, forcing him to face off against villains from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb's Amazing Spider-Man films, including Green Goblin, Doc Ock, Sandman, Lizard, and Electro.

Related: How Every Spider-Man Villain Is Different In No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home's box office is now projected to take in a gargantuan $253 million opening weekend. It now has the third-best domestic opening weekend in history, right behind its MCU precursors Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War. This follows the news that Spider-Man nabbed the 2nd highest domestic opening day of all time, also behind Avengers: Endgame.

Spidey's extra arms retract on a bridge in Spider-Man No Way Home

In just one weekend, No Way Home has already made more money domestically than the $202 million that The Amazing Spider-Man 2 did in its entire domestic run. It's also creeping up on The Amazing Spider-Man's domestic run of $262 million. It also blows the franchise's previous best opening weekend (Spider-Man 3's $151.1 million) out of the water by a dramatic margin. If No Way Home doubles this number before the end of its run (which it's entirely likely to do), it will be the most successful Spider-Man film by almost $100 million.

Considering how strong even the worst-reviewed Spider-Man movies have performed at the box office, it makes sense that combining all three continuities into Spider-Man: No Way Home would turn out epic profits. One big draw for recent big-budget films has been nostalgia, and this film is able to draw on the nostalgia of the current generation of kids and teens, as well as every generation that has come of age since the beginning of the millennium. People have constantly made fun of the fact that the Spider-Man mythology has been so frequently rebooted, but Marvel is clearly laughing all the way to the bank.

Next: Does No Way Home Have The Worst MCU Credits Scene Ever?

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