Use Spotify? Access BizNews podcasts here..Use Apple Podcasts? Access BizNews podcasts here..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.Spider-Man vs. Omicron.Moviegoers haven't surrendered to the latest viral fears..By James Freeman of The Wall Street Journal.Dec. 20, 2021 4:00 pm ET.The best of the web-spinners took on the world's most notorious infectious villain this weekend at movie theaters. The superhero won, with the biggest box-office haul of the pandemic era..The Hollywood Reporter's Pamela McClintock notes:.Sony and Marvel's Spider-Man: No Way Home spun a record-breaking web in its box office debut, grossing $260 million from 4,336 theaters to secure the second-biggest domestic opening of all time at the box office despite growing worries over the COVID-19 omicron variant.Monday's final number of $260 million came in ahead of Sunday's estimate of $253 million to supplant Avengers: Infinity War as the No. 2 launch ever, not adjusted for inflation.Overseas — where the new variant is even more of a concern in certain markets, and particularly in Europe — the movie also made history, grossing $340.8 million — likewise an uptick over Sunday's estimate of $334.2 million — for a revised global total of $600.8 million (without China). That's the No. 3 global opening ever, not adjusted for inflation.Young movie fans especially seem to be saying that it's time to live with life's risks instead of trying to wage an infinity war commanded by government health officials. New Yorkers, who've endured some of the most destructive lockdowns of the Covid era, may be especially ready to return to a sensible balance. The Journal's Erich Schwartzel reports:"Spider-Man" premiered at an especially fraught moment for the nation's movie theaters. Multiplexes in Denmark have closed because of the Omicron spread, though large U.S. exhibitors have yet to make any major changes. Any imminent slowdown in moviegoing would hit theaters ahead of the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, which is traditionally one of the busiest ticket-buying times of the year.Ticket sales in New York didn't drop despite the variant's spread in the city, according to Sony data. Richard Gelfond, chief executive of entertainment technology company IMAX Corp., said it didn't appear as though the spread of the Covid-19 variant ate into box-office sales."The numbers speak for themselves—no one thought the numbers would be this big," he said.The pre-eminent U.S. commander in the futile war to eliminate all risk of covid—while ignoring and exacerbating other risks—is Dr. Anthony Fauci, who over the weekend declared a new infinity war. The federal disease doctor now says that, just like Spider-Man, people on airplanes should remain forever masked. "What started as '15 days to slow the spread' has now descended into permanent Faucism," cracks Gov. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.) in a Monday email to supporters.As if the credibility of infinity war commanders hasn't suffered enough, now comes a stunning internal critique of Biden administration Covid policy. Noah Bierman of the Los Angeles Times reports:Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday that the administration failed to anticipate the variants that have prolonged and worsened the COVID-19 pandemic…"We didn't see Delta coming. I think most scientists did not — upon whose advice and direction we have relied — didn't see Delta coming," she said. "We didn't see Omicron coming. And that's the nature of what this, this awful virus has been, which as it turns out, has mutations and variants."It was news to Team Biden that viruses mutate? Meanwhile overseas, foot soldiers are also questioning orders from senior commanders in the infinity war. The Associated Press reports:Thousands of peaceful protesters demonstrated in Brussels on Sunday for a third time against reinforced COVID-19 restrictions imposed by the Belgian government to counter a spike in infections as the omicron variant sweeps across Europe.The marchers — some with placards reading "free zone," "I've had my fair dose" and "enough is enough" — came to protest the government's strong advice to get vaccinated. They also included Belgian health care workers who will have a three-month window in which to get vaccinated against the virus beginning Jan. 1 or risk losing their jobs…The Belgian protest comes one day after similar protests in other European capitals including Paris and London. Nations across Europe are reimposing tougher measures to stem a new wave of COVID-19 infections spurred by the highly transmissible omicron variant, with the Netherlands leading the way by imposing a nationwide lockdown.To head off such protests in the U.S., President Joe Biden should be demanding that his Food and Drug Administration staff remain on a wartime footing and approve the promising Paxlovid treatment before breaking for Christmas—or clearly explain why they won't.***Also in the Hollywood Reporter today, Tatiana Siegel and Patrick Brzeski report that ignoring the abuses of the Chinese Communist Party doesn't always lead to commercial success:In 2014, when Warner Bros. drafted LeBron James to star in its Space Jam sequel, the film was tailored to appeal above all else to the mighty Chinese market. After all, James was a huge commodity in the basketball-obsessed country, where his signature Nike sneakers are made. Along the way, the future Hall of Famer avoided poking the China bear, even if it meant drawing outrage when he criticized Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey in 2019 for tweeting his support for Hong Kong protesters, calling him "misinformed" — a notable move given James' vocal stance on police brutality issues and former President Trump's so-called Muslim travel ban. At the time, videos of police crackdowns on Hong Kong's pro-Democracy movement were circulating widely while it was well reported that more than 1 million Uighur Muslims were being held in internment camps.Despite attempts to make it past China's censors, Space Jam: A New Legacy never received a release in China this summer and scored just $162.8 million worldwide — a so-so figure even given the coronavirus pandemic. Still, Space Jam wasn't alone. Disney received the same cold shoulder when it came to its Marvel tentpoles Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and The Eternals, films that were built around Chinese talent in order to make a giant showing in the market. But to no avail. Neither film was given a release in the country that continues to take heat for reported human rights abuses. Hollywood's silence on those abuses has become deafening as other industries and entities have begun to confront China.***Another Big Problem with Build Back BetterThe Journal's Andrew Duehren reports from Washington:Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) said Democrats would plow forward early next year with a vote on the party's roughly $2 trillion education, healthcare and climate package as Sen. Joe Manchin again said he wouldn't be pressured into supporting the bill…"The Senate will, in fact, consider the Build Back Better Act, very early in the new year so that every Member of this body has the opportunity to make their position known on the Senate floor, not just on television," Mr. Schumer wrote, in a reference to Mr. Manchin's appearance on Fox News Sunday in which he announced his stance.Mr. Schumer's statement raised the prospect of the central piece of Democrats' economic agenda… failing on the Senate floor.Mr. Schumer may find that a number of Democratic colleagues aren't eager to take this vote if, as expected, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (socialist, Vt.) sign off on provisions to give themselves a tax break. Such lawmakers have been negotiating a potential increase in the state and local tax (SALT) Deduction. But not all Senate Democrats are on board.Abby Vesoulis recently reported for Time:That's because raising the cap on SALT deductions from $10,000 to $80,000, as prescribed in the House-passed version of BBB, would disproportionately help taxpayers rich enough to benefit from itemizing their federal tax deductions—which is to say, the richest fifth of Americans. According to a November analysis from the… Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, the higher SALT cap would primarily benefit the richest 20% of taxpayers, and three-fourths of the benefits would go to the richest 5%… If they raise the SALT cap, the second-most expensive item in a bill designed to bolster American working families would be a tax break for coastal elites…"Our priorities should be making sure that families have affordable childcare, our priority should be making sure that we have paid family and medical leave and that it's meaningful," Sen. Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat also leading the negotiations, tells TIME. "To the extent that we're spending money on a regressive tax policy, like SALT, I think that does diminish our ability to do those other things… I do think that it raises the question about what our priorities really are."***Good Guy with a GunKatherine Rosenberg-Douglas reports for the Chicago Tribune:Two Rottweilers that were attacking a jogger in St. Charles are dead after the dogs' owner and a man who intervened tried unsuccessfully to pull the animals off the woman until the man, who has a concealed carry license, fatally shot one of the dogs, according to the Kane County sheriff's office.***Good Guy with a Script"Nick Offerman Says He Was Constantly Given Extra Bacon At Restaurants After Taking Ron Swanson Role," Daily Caller, November 19Where Are the Good Guys?"1,140 Cars Were Stolen in November Across Portland. Mine Was One of Them," Willamette Week, December 15American Founders as Bad Guys"The malicious, historically illiterate 1619 Project keeps rolling on," George Will in the Washington Post, Dec. 17Listen to the Science"The CDC's Flawed Case for Wearing Masks in School," The Atlantic, Dec. 16Fact Check: True"N.J. quarantines too many students, lawmaker says," NJ.com, Dec. 19***James Freeman is the co-author of "The Cost: Trump, China and American Revival."***Follow James Freeman on Twitter.Subscribe to the Best of the Web email.To suggest items, please email best@wsj.com.(Lisa Rossi helps compile Best of the Web.Thanks to Al Eaton, Wes Van Fleet and Tony Lima.)***
