South Africa’s box office: Spider-Man swings into first

Spider-Man: Homecoming (review) came swinging into first this weekend — but as an ultra-popular franchise, and the only big budget to debut, that was never going to be difficult for the superhero. Though Homecoming did not have the strongest global Spider-Man opening (that record is held by Spider-Man 3), it did pull in the biggest South African opener of the franchise.

Unfortunately for Wonder Woman (review), that means her time as the newest superhero has come to an end. The Patty Jenkins film has fallen two places down to six, making this its first week outside the top five. The film is still 2017’s top superhero movie, though, ahead of of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Spider-Man.

But who else did Spider-Man catch in his web this weekend? (7 to 9 July)

A hint: it isn’t buff topless men. In fact, Baywatch moved up one to fourth in its fifth week on the chart, despite working on the smallest budget of the top six.

Dwayne “the Rock”? More like Dwayne “the box… office champion”. I’ll see myself out.

Despicable Me 3 also had a great week. Though it fell one spot into second, the film managed to pick up the highest life-to-date gross with sales of R20 720 540 in just two weekends.

Its only competition in the way of kids films, Cars 3, dropped from third to fifth this week. The sequel is currently ranked third in the franchise and would have to pull a small miracle to overtake Cars 2.

Amy Poehler and Will Ferrell’s The House debuted in seventh spot this week. The film, which sees a married couple open an illegal casino to pay for their daughter’s tuition, only brought in half of its US$40-million budget globally. The comedy debuted just as Rough Night fell off the charts.

Finally, South African drama Nul is Nie Niks Nie (roughly translated to “Zero isn’t nothing”) opened in ninth spot, marking the first local entry in months. The Afrikaans flick is based on a novel by Jaco Jacobs and tells of three friends determined to make sick Drikus’ last wish — making a zombie film — come true.

Here are ten most-watched movies in SA this past weekend:

1. Spider-Man: Homecoming (Incl. 3D, 4DX & IMAX)
2. Despicable Me 3 (Incl. 3D)
3. Transformers: The Last Knight
4. Baywatch
5. Cars 3 (Incl. 3D)
6. Wonder Woman (Incl. 3D & Imax)
7. The House
8. The Mummy (Incl. Imax)
9. Nul is Nie Niks Nie
10. Everything, Everything

The above list was provided by Ster Kinekor Entertainment.

Edited to include that Homecoming brought in biggest South African opening of the franchise.