Once sitting among the most beleaguered enterprises following the COVID-19 crisis, movie house operator Cinemark Holdings (US:CNK) saw its equity shares pop up more than 3% on Monday. Bolstering enthusiasm was a strong opening weekend performance for the latest film in the Spider-Man franchise.

So far this year, CNK stock has climbed more than 106%, well above the comparatively pedestrian S&P 500 index at just under 12%.

Tripling Earlier Debut

According to an Associate Press report, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” opened in North American theaters with a robust $120.5 million, more than tripling the debut of the 2018 animated original. Per the news agency, the latest offering in the storied series shows “the kind of movie-to-movie box-office growth that would be the envy of even the mightiest of Hollywood franchises.”

Further, “Across the Spider-Verse” blew past industry insider expectations, primarily riding on outstanding reviews and strong anticipation among fans following the award-winning success of its predecessor “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Interesting, on Rotten Tomatoes, the recently debuted movie scored 95% fresh. In addition, the audience rated the film at a lofty 96%.

Adding to enthusiasm for CNK stock and the broader Hollywood industry, “Across the Spider-Verse” ranks as number 52 out of Box Office Mojo’s top 200 opening weekend performances. Notably, that’s well within range of the much-anticipated opening weekend for “Top Gun: Maverick,” which debuted at $126.7 million.

To be sure, movie studios remain well below the paradigm established during the pre-pandemic years. Taking the all-time opening weekend performance so far is “Avengers: Endgame,” which clocked in at $357.12 million. Nevertheless, the newest Spider-Man film confirms that studios don’t necessarily need to shell out for maximum star power -- such as A-lister Tom Cruise -- to accrue powerful rewards. Instead, they need to focus on stories that resonate with moviegoers.

Pessimistic Options

At the moment, options sentiment for CNK is rather pessimistic at 2.81. Since puts generally represent bearish wagers, a ratio greater than one indicates bearishness. However, options flow data suggests a turnaround may be in order. On Monday, traders bought CNK calls -- a classic bullish move -- in multi-sweep transactions.

Moving forward, investors should assess Cinemark’s insider transactions to better determine the sentiment among those closest to the business. The last unplanned insider purchases occurred in March 2020, during the time when CNK stock was in free fall.

A resumption of executive acquisitions in earnest might signal a transition in confidence toward the box office overall. In the trailing one-year period, Cinemark stock gained 2%.