Marvel wins its second Labor Day weekend box office in a row with the rerelease of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Last year, the MCU jumped into its Phase 4 as the franchise began to move past the Infinity Saga in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame. The new era saw the MCU continue its success in theaters with films like Spider-Man: No Way Home. Arguably the best entry in Marvel and Sony's MCU partnership, No Way Home broke box office records and earned a place as the sixth highest-grossing film of all time.
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This Labor Day weekend, Sony released an extended version of Spider-Man: No Way Home, subtitled The More Fun Stuff Version. The extended cut added 13 more minutes of new footage, including a new post-credits scene that replaces the Doctor Strange 2 trailer from the film's first release. Although the new footage in the No Way Home extended cut doesn't reveal much new information to viewers, Marvel and Spider-Man fans flocked to theaters this weekend to see the film's second run.
Spider-Man: No Way Home – The More Fun Stuff Version did not break any records this weekend like the film's original release did, but the rerelease did grant Marvel a small victory. According to THR, No Way Home finished first at the box office this weekend with around $6 million, putting an MCU film on top for Labor Day weekend two years in a row. The superhero film is expected to barely come out on top of the four-day weekend, beating Top Gun: Maverick which is also rising on the list of highest-grossing films.
In 2021, the Labor Day weekend box office was dominated by Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, led by breakout star Simu Liu. Finishing the weekend above $75 million, the MCU film broke box office records for the holiday weekend, which is typically slower for theaters. The huge difference between the Spider-Man rerelease's numbers and Shang-Chi's demonstrates even more how significant it was that the 2021 film attracted so many moviegoers. Of course, Spider-Man: No Way Home – The More Fun Stuff Version is a rerelease, so that also contributes to the difference in sales.
Although the charts this holiday weekend beat the numbers from last weekend, No Way Home's victory is starting the fall movie season off at its lowest point in years. These numbers are despite the industry's successful push to encourage moviegoers with $3 tickets on National Cinema Day, which led 8 million viewers to theaters. Still, even with the season's weak start, Marvel is undoubtedly hoping to recreate Spider-Man: No Way Home's initial success with its upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.