Why Isn't Spider-Man: No Way Home Opening on December 17 in the Philippines?
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Filipino Spider-Man fans have been wondering when Spider-Man: No Way Home will be released in the country since the announcement of the reopening of cinemas last October. However, a post from Columbia Pictures Philippines about its upcoming movie slate showed that the third Spider-Man movie starring Tom Holland in the title role will be released on January 8, 2022—instead of its scheduled world premiere on the 17th of December.
It's heartbreaking news for Filipino fans as we have to wait three whole weeks before No Way Home comes to our shores. I don’t know about you, but that feels like an eternity. Good luck avoiding all the spoilers.
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The hashtag #DontDelayNoWayHomePH started making rounds on the internet but only gained traction on Twitter after the official trailer premiered.
It hurts joining the HYPE knowing Philippines release is Jan 8. #DontDelayNoWayHomePH https://t.co/wnWQfFF6zf
— ?? (@PaoloRosal) November 17, 2021
Seriously?
— joan_frias (@joan_frias) November 17, 2021
And you still wonder why people Filipinos resort to torrent? #DontDelayNoWayHomePH pic.twitter.com/6RFO7kn4hb
Someone even started a petition on change.org to bring up the movie's release date in the country. As of writing, the petition already has close to 18,000 signatures. Nothing warms my Spider-man loving heart more than seeing the clamor from Filipino fans to show the film on its proper premiere date.
A person named Lance Chua started the petition and wrote:
“I am writing this for a very simple reason and that is: As an MCU Fan, I would definitely like for Spider-Man: No Way Home to release in PH Cinemas at the same time the movie releases [in] other countries and that is I believe on December 17, of this year. See, with the implications of this film being so big—in terms of the overall effect of this film in the MCU—if you are to release this film here in the Philippines on January of 2022, there will already be plenty of spoilers on the internet. And, that will definitely ruin the experience for us especially because, as already mentioned, the implications of this film [are] huge. This is not just a standalone film. So please, release this film on December 17 here in the Philippines. Delay all other films for all we care, just not Spider-Man: No Way Home. I really hope this reaches the powers that be.”
These sentiments are likely shared by all web-heads across the country. It’s a pretty head-scratching decision by the studio, leading one to wonder about what prompted this decision. Could the fact that the Metro Manila Film Festival running from December 25 to January 7 be the reason? If so, showing the film on the 17th gives us nine days to watch No Way Home before the MMFF premieres. They could just bring it back on January 8 after the festival.
We tried reaching out to Columbia Pictures Philippines but the studio declined to comment. Hey, maybe it’s a sign that there’s a slight possibility for an earlier release date? Will they give in to what the people want?
Please, comic book gods. We've been through so much the past couple of years. Just give us this, please. We need this little victory. But I guess, for now, we just have to collectively stay off the internet for three weeks starting December 17 if we don't want to get spoiled.
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