Spider-Man Webs Himself Into A Half-Year Lead In The Home Entertainment Race!
Carl Roberts 
Our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man leads the rest home at the halfway stage of the home entertainment sales race!
The race for the title of the biggest film on home entertainment this year is well and truly on. The big guns from all the major studios are competing to see which film will earn the coveted title. At the hallway stage for 2022, one film is winning the race quite comfortably. That film is the comic book sequel ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ The Tom Holland-starring film, the third in the Sony standalone universe has sold more than double of the film sitting in second place. While the remainder of the top ten for the year so far sees many top titles and family favorites, nothing can come close to matching the Sony Pictures comic book sequel’s success. Let’s take a look at the top ten for the year so far.
(1) SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Ironically, the film dropped out of the official top ten charts this week. But that doesn’t mean the film isn’t selling well anymore. It has sold over 780,000 copies ever since it hit the home entertainment formats back in March. In the film, Peter Parker asks Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to use magic to make his identity as Spider-Man a secret again following its public revelation at the end of Far From Home. When the spell goes wrong, the multiverse is broken open, which allows visitors from alternate realities to enter Parker’s universe. And of course, we know that Tobey McGuire and Andrew Garfield appear as their respective versions of Spider-Man too. The film is the best of the standalone movies and continues to keep audiences flocking back for more.
(2) DUNE
The science fiction epic from visionary director Denis Villeneuve was released on the home entertainment market in January. And was able to become a chart leader for a while. The remake of Frank Herbert’s outstanding novel was cut into two parts. The second film, ‘Dune Part Two’ is scheduled for release in November of 2023. But the first half of the book was filmed and has gone on to be a huge success. It garnered many awards along the way as it rightfully should have. Set in the far future, the film follows Paul Atreides as his family, the noble House Atreides, is thrust into a war for the deadly and inhospitable desert planet Arrakis. The sheer scope and vision the film contains are incredible. And allow the film to be rightfully acclaimed as an epic, a term that is thrown around a little too much these days.
(3) GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE
The third ‘official’ film in the franchise, the sequel managed to capture the heart and soul of the first two films. And with it, brought back a huge amount of nostalgia for the older fans while opening the franchise up for a new generation. This is the film the fans have long clamored for. While paying tribute to his father, the late Ivan Reitman with the film, Jason Reitman also dragged the franchise forward into the new millennium. While the original cast got to play their parts, a new generation has been created and will carry the franchise forward from here. Set thirty-two years after the events of Ghostbusters II, it follows a single mother and her children who move to an Oklahoma farm they inherited from her estranged father Egon Spengler, a member of the original Ghostbusters. And is a crowd pleaser from the start.
(4) NO TIME TO DIE
The final appearance of Daniel Craig as Ian Fleming’s secret agent managed to become the top title for 2021. Despite being released on home entertainment in mid-December. And it managed to bring its success into the first six months of 2022, becoming the second-biggest physical release of the year so far. While not being the best Bond film of them all, the film is still a great 007 movie for everyone. Following on from the climax of ‘Spectre’, the film opens with a now retired Bond being dragged back into action due to a genetic scientist being abducted. Of course, this will lead to a mission that only James Bond can accomplish. The ending to the film has been described as controversial and surprising but it ends Craig’s tenure as Bond in some style.
(5) SING 2
The animated sequel has been a huge success ever since it hit the home entertainment world. The story is set after the events of the previous film, where Buster Moon and his group put on a show in Redshore City while working to impress an entertainment mogul and enlist a reclusive rock star to perform. The vocal cast returns once more and is joined by rock legend Bono for this family movie. The home entertainment release featured a huge amount of bonus features when it was released on digital and Blu-ray. And they alone were guaranteed to keep the kids happy for hours on end. And they may even have managed to drag mum into singing and dancing along with them.
(6) THE BATMAN
Despite only being released on home entertainment in May, the superhero movie by Matt Reeves and star Robert Pattinson currently sits in the sixth position for the year. The film opened in March to great acclaim and millions of dollars of box office revenue. That’s despite being almost three hours long. The film sees Batman, who has been fighting crime in Gotham City for two years, uncover corruption while pursuing the Riddler, a serial killer who targets Gotham’s elite. Robert Pattinson is terrific as Batman. At some points, he even looks and sounds like a younger Clint Eastwood in the suit. But it’s his portrayal of Bruce Wayne that lets him down.
Similarly, the same can be said for Zoe Kravitz as Selina Kyle/ Catwoman. She is a great Selina but a poor Catwoman. Instead, the plaudits go to Jeffery Wright as Jim Gordon, Paul Dano as Edward Nashton/ The Riddler, and an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as Oswald ‘Oz’ Cobblepot/ The Penguin. The film is much darker than we have come to expect too.
(7) VENOM-LET THERE BE CARNAGE
The second go-around for Tom Hardy as the symbiote takes its place at number seven. The sequel is a rather enjoyable affair without ever reaching the heights of comic book movie greatness. In the film, Brock and the alien symbiote Venom must face serial killer Cletus Kasady after he becomes the host of an offshoot of Venom named Carnage. To my mind, the character of Carnage is one of the best villains in the MCU universe. But here, he is completely wasted. It isn’t the fault of Woody Harrelson who portrays the character of Cletus Kasady/ Carnage. It is the fault of the script.
Tom Hardy looks to be having the time of his life playing Eddie Brock/ Venom, much to his credit. But relegating Michelle Williams as Eddie’s ex-fiancee Anne and Naomie Harris as Frances Barrison / Shriek to brief roles is unforgivable. Still, the film is a riot from start to finish.
(8) ENCANTO
This Disney animated family film managed to be a huge success in home entertainment. Despite its shortened cinematic run at the back end of 2021. The film came out in November and was then on Disney+ on Christmas Day. But defying the odds thrown against it, the film made its money on the home entertainment market. The film follows a multigenerational Colombian family, the Madrigals, led by a matriarch whose children and grandchildren—except for Mirabel Madrigal—receive magical gifts from a miracle that helps them serve the people in their rural community called the Encanto.
When Mirabel learns that the family is losing their magic, she sets out to find out what is happening, and save her family and their magical house. The film managed to get the song ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’ to the top of the UK Singles chart for seven weeks. A film that will stand the test of time.
(9) UNCHARTED
The film version of the videogame spent over a decade in development hell before finally emerging in cinemas back in February of this year. And it became a box office success from the start. Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg lead the line as Nathan Drake and Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan respectively in an all-action thrill ride. In the film, Drake is recruited by Sullivan in a race against corrupt billionaire Santiago Moncada ( Antonio Banderas) and mercenary leader Jo Braddock (Tati Gabrielle) to locate the fabled treasure of the Magellan expedition. Although the film was given mixed reviews by critics, that didn’t stop the public from going to see it. A sequel is now in the planning stages so it is a given that we will see Drake and Sullivan return soon.
(10) THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS
The fourth film in the long-running franchise, the film opened just before Christmas of 2021. And was a major failure for Warner Bros and the cast and crew of the film. The problem lay with the film relying too much on past glories. And the use of stock footage of certain scenes and characters from the previous three movies did it no favors. Despite the return of franchise mainstays Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Ann Moss, the film just simply wasn’t good enough for fans of the franchise. Or the movie-going public. And it is simply dull and lifeless.
The film is set sixty years after ‘The Matrix Revolutions’ and follows Neo, who lives a seemingly ordinary life as a video game developer having trouble distinguishing fantasy from reality. A group of rebels, with the help of a programmed version of Morpheus, free Neo from a new version of the Matrix and fight a new enemy that holds Trinity captive. It sounds like it could and should have been a winner. But sadly, it wasn’t to be.
OUTSIDE THE TOP TEN
Sitting just outside the top ten are two films that are currently holding top ten weekly chart positions. At number eleven is the classic 1986 movie ‘Top Gun.’ Thanks to the success of its sequel ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ at the box office, the original film has been riding high for the past month. While at number twelve is Paramount Pictures’ ‘Sonic The Hedgehog 2’ which remains possibly THE family film of the summer. Other titles in the top twenty include ‘Scream (2022)’, ‘House Of Gucci’, ‘Eternals’, and ‘The Suicide Squad.’
THE FUTURE
While ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ holds the title right now, there are plenty of movies coming soon to home entertainment that could derail its run at becoming the 2022 home entertainment champion. Titles such as ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’, the aforementioned ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘Elvis’, and ‘Lightyear’ are all due before the end of September. That’s before we get the likes of ‘Minions: The Rise Of Gru’ and ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’. So it looks like the fight for chart supremacy is well and truly on! And who will be the big winner? It’ll be us, the buying public that will ultimately come out on top.
Source: FindAnyFilm.Com
Anyone wishing to buy any of the titles featured in The Official Film Chart can do so via FindAnyFilm.com. All videos and information have been supplied by Find Any Film and used under authorization.
Carl Roberts is the News Editor for The Future of the Force. Aside from being our horror genre aficionado, he is also passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and the Indiana Jones movies. Follow him on Twitter where he uses the force frequently!
