Hollywood rang in the new year with more fireworks at the box office, as "Spider-Man: No Way Home" topped all films for the third consecutive week and is already among the highest-grossing pictures of all time. Even with all the champagne popping for "No Way Home," the film industry enters 2022 with plenty of reasons to be optimistic and concerned following a year in which overall ticket sales doubled that of 2020 but remained well below pre-pandemic levels.

The year began with most cinemas closed but finished with a massive smash. "No Way Home" grossed an estimated $52.7 million over the weekend, bringing the film's three-week total to $609.9 million. This is the tenth highest total in North America's history. It has grossed $1.37 billion worldwide, surpassing "Black Panther" and placing it as the 12th highest-grossing picture of all time.

"No Way Home," Tom Holland's third independent picture as the web-slinger, provided a significant boost to the box office resurgence that began last spring with the reopening of United States cinemas following a year of COVID-19 closures. Marvel films dominated the tumultuous year, accounting for four of the year's top films: "No Way Home," "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings," "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," and "Black Widow."

According to ComScore, the North American box office will reach $4.5 billion in 2021. That's roughly 60% less than in 2019 – pre-masked moviegoers, social separation, and viral varieties like the currently virulent omicron.

It's doubtful whether the movies will ever reach those pre-pandemic heights again, given that exclusive theatrical windows have reduced in recent years, studios have experimented with hybrid releases, and few titles aside from superhero pictures are packing theaters. Due in part to the interruptions caused by COVID-19, the 2022 release schedule is exceptionally dense with prospective blockbusters, including "The Batman," "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," "Top Gun: Maverick," "Jurassic World: Dominion," "Thor: Love and Thunder," and "Avatar 2."

Second place belongs to Universal Pictures' animated sequel "Sing 2" during the weekend. It earned $19.6 million on its second weekend, bringing the total to $89.7 million for the two weeks. This is a consistent result, considering that family films and films aimed at elderly audiences have been the slowest to recover from the pandemic. Internationally, "Sing 2" generated an additional $54.9 million, and its trend suggests that it will be the pandemic's most animated release.

However, following "No Way Home" and "Sing 2," there was little else on offer for holiday weekend moviegoers.

"The King's Man," the third entry in Matthew Vaughn's "Kingsman" series, garnered a meager $4.5 million in its second week following an underwhelming debut. However, that was sufficient for third place. The Disney film, produced by 20th Century Studios, grossed $47.8 million worldwide.

"West Side Story," directed by Steven Spielberg, grossed $2.1 million in its fourth weekend. While the picture is holding up nicely (it fell 26% from the previous week), the anticipated holiday boost for the acclaimed musical has not occurred. "West Side Story" grossed an underwhelming $29.6 million in the United States.

After a disastrous launch last week, Warner Bros.' "The Matrix Resurrections" fell a whopping 64 percent to $3.8 million in its second weekend. The film is simultaneously streaming on HBO Max, a practice that began in 2021 and which the studio has committed to discontinuing in 2022. The long-awaited "Matrix" reboot was even outperformed in the second week by Lionsgate's Kurt Warner NFL drama "American Underdog."

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's "Memoria," starring Tilda Swinton, was one of the week's few new releases. Neon, the film's distributor, has devised an innovative method for the art-house release, screening the picture in only one theater at a time with no intentions for other streaming or physical distribution. Since its Dec. 16 opening in New York's IFC Center, "Memoria" has amassed $52,656 on its quixotic cross-country voyage.

Comscore estimates Friday through Sunday ticket sales at theaters in the United States and Canada. Domestic numbers will be released in their final form on Monday.