The latest installment of the CG-animated “Spider-Man” franchise featuring Miles Morales as the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was the box office king this weekend. The film brought in an estimated $120.6 million for its opening frame, per figures from Box Office Mojo.
‘Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse’ Scales To Huge Weekend Opening
The new sequel, from writers and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, also brought in another $87 million overseas. That brings its current domestic total to $208 million. “Across the Spider-Verse” is now an even bigger hit than its predecessor.
What’s impressive about this opening weekend is that it more than tripled the opening weekend for the first installment of the franchise, “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” released in December 2018. That film made $190 million domestically and $375 million worldwide, which the sequel will easily top. While the first film was generally lower for a “Spider-Man” feature, it was very well received, and it also won the Best Animated Feature at the 2019 Academy Awards, efficiently doing well enough to garner multiple follow-ups.
Instagram / haileesteinfeld“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is not only the second part of Miles Morales’ continuing journey as the legendary Webhead, but it’s also the next part of a two-chapter story that will continue next year with “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.” The threequel is currently slated for a March 29, 2024 release.
“Across the Spider-Verse” was well-liked by both critics and audiences. The film scored 95% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and its audience score is 96%. That bodes well for the film’s word-of-mouth and subsequent weekend box office performances.
Elsewhere, Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” came in at No. 2 with $41 million in its second weekend of release. The film has now grossed $186.9 million domestically and $328 million worldwide. The new Disney and 20th Century Studios release, “The Boogeyman,” based on the Stephen King short story, brought in $12.3 million for its opening frame.
MEGA“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” brought in $10 million in its fifth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $323 million. At about $781 million, the film has now crossed the worldwide take of the first movie released in 2014, which totaled $773 million. It should beat the domestic interpretation of the original at $333 million by around next weekend, if not a little longer.
“Fast X” had another significant dropoff in its third weekend, decreasing 58 percent for a $9.58 million total and $128.8 million domestically. While “Fast and Furious” franchise numbers have significantly softened in North America, its international numbers are still relatively strong, bringing in $604 million worldwide. However, it seems unlikely the film will be able to cross $1 billion as the franchise did for “Furious 7” and “The Fate of the Furious.”
MEGA“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” once again stars Shameik Moore as the voice of Miles Morales, with Hailee Steinfeld voicing Gwen Stacy, aka Spider-Woman, or Spider-Gwen as she’s popularly nicknamed, and Jake Johnson back as Peter B. Parker, aka Spider-Man. Joining the cast are Oscar Isaac (“Star Wars,” “Moon Knight”) as the voice of Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of Nueva York in 2099, aka Spider-Man 2099, Jason Schwartzman as The Spot, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman, and Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out,” “Nope”) as Hobie Brown, aka Spider-Punk. Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson directed the film from a script by Lord, Miller, and David Callaham. It’s playing now in theaters.
