Spider-Man: No Way Home becomes 1st film to top $1bn in pandemic

The latest instalment of the Spider-Man franchise has become the first pandemic-era movie to make more than $1bn (£750m) at the global box office.

Spider-Man: No Way Home also took the title of highest-grossing film of 2021.

It beat out Chinese-made Korean War epic The Battle of Lake Changjin_ which has grossed more than $905m worldwide.

The last movie to gross more than $1bn was 2019's Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker_ according to media data analytics firm Comscore.

No other Hollywood production has come near to reaching that box office milestone since the pandemic began two years ago.

Over the weekend_ global box office takings for the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film reached $1.05bn.

The co-production between Sony and Disney hit its milestone less than two weeks after its premier even as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has spread rapidly around the world_ raising fresh concerns about indoor events.

The film has not been released in China_ which is currently the world's biggest cinema market.

Spider-Man: No Way Home sees Tom Holland return as the third iteration of Peter Parker alongside Zendaya's MJ and Benedict Cumberbatch as the sorcerer Doctor Strange.

The franchise's 2019 offering Spider-Man: Far From Home was the first Spider-Man film to break the $1bn mark at the box office and is currently the highest-grossing movie in the franchise with $1.132bn in global ticket sales_ according to Comscore.

The latest film follows on from Far From Home_ in which the villainous Mysterio unmasked Parker before dying.

The series is a collaboration between the Disney's Marvel Studios and Sony.

In 2015_ Disney_ Marvel Studios_ and Sony agreed to share the film rights for Spider-Man_ which led to a new iteration of the character being introduced and integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Before No Way Home_ MGM's latest James Bond movie No Time to Die_ which made $774m at the box office globally_ was the highest-grossing Hollywood film of both 2021 and the pandemic.