Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse drew in a large audience for its opening weekend, giving it the best debut of summer 2023 so far. In 1998 Sony acquired the film rights for Spider-Man from Marvel for reportedly only $7 million. This may be the biggest robbery of all time, as Spider-Man continuously proves to be a box office hit.
It has been 5 years since Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was released in 2018. The movie won Best Animated Film at the Oscars, and since then, fans have been patiently waiting for a sequel. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was initially supposed to be released in April of 2022, but much like other films, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was then split into two parts, which delayed the film further. The second part of the film was renamed Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was finally released on June 2nd and grossed over $120.5 million domestically in its first weekend. This opening beats out Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which made $118.4 million for the former best opening of the summer. Additionally, the Spider-Verse sequel has the 6th best domestic opening of any animated film, right behind Incredibles 2 ($182.6M), Super Mario Bros ($146.3M), Finding Dory ($135M), Frozen 2 ($130.2M) and Toy Story 4 ($120.9M). This is the best opening ever for an animated Sony film.
A $120.5 million opening weekend outperformed what tracking data expected. The original award-winning film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse grossed only $35.3 million in its opening weekend. This means that the sequel outperformed the original by a whopping 241%. Additionally, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse made $88.1 million overseas, bringing the global gross box office for the opening weekend $208.6 million.
The sequel was expected to do well at the box office, especially after the financial and critical success of its Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Studios predicted the film would gross between $80 and $90 million in its opening weekend. Most likely, the film was expected to make less than it did due to superhero fatigue, as many superhero films and shows have been underperforming because there is so much competition.
Additionally, the sequel came out five years after the original, and people were unsure if it could live up to the high expectations set by its predecessor. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swung ahead of expectations and delivered a successful sequel. The film currently has a 95% critics score and a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, so don’t expect the film to slow down. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is set to release in March 2024.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters.
Source: Deadline