Spider-Man Swings to the Top with Record-Breaking Summer Debut

Upon its opening weekend, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse drew a significant crowd, boasting the best debut of the summer of 2023 thus far. It's hard to believe that back in 1998, Sony acquired the film rights for Spider-Man from Marvel for a mere $7 million, a deal that has proven to be quite the steal as the character continues to dominate the box office. Fans have eagerly awaited a sequel to the award-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse since its release in 2018, and while the pandemic caused delays, the film's release has been split into two parts, with the second part now titled Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swung into theaters on June 2nd and made a record-breaking $120.5 million domestically in its opening weekend, surpassing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as the summer's top opener. The animated sequel also ranks as the sixth highest domestic opening for an animated film, trailing only Incredibles 2 ($182.6M), Super Mario Bros ($146.3M), Finding Dory ($135M), Frozen 2 ($130.2M), and Toy Story 4 ($120.9M). This impressive performance makes it the highest-grossing opening weekend ever for an animated Sony film.

The opening weekend of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse exceeded expectations, raking in a whopping $120.5 million in revenue. This impressive figure far surpassed the original film's opening weekend earnings of $35.3 million, representing a staggering 241% increase. The film also performed well internationally, earning $88.1 million and bringing its global opening weekend box office to a total of $208.6 million. Despite concerns of superhero fatigue in the industry, the sequel's financial and critical success, along with its predecessor's, was a strong indicator of its potential success at the box office. While initial predictions estimated an $80 to $90 million opening weekend, the film surpassed those estimates, proving its undeniable appeal to audiences.

The sequel to the original Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was released five years later and many were skeptical if it could live up to the high standards set by its predecessor. However, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse exceeded expectations and proved to be a successful sequel. With a 95% critics score and a 96% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, it is clear that the film has been well-received and is unlikely to lose momentum anytime soon. Fans of the franchise can look forward to the release of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse in March 2024. For those who haven't seen it yet, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is currently showing in theaters.

Source: Deadline