Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse swung across all expectations with a $120.5 million opening. Going into the weekend most were eyeing it to take in $70-80M on the conservative side, with some more optimistically speculating that it could make between $110-$120M. Worldwide, it took in $208.6M.
The preceding film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse opened with $35.4 domestically in December of 2018 and went on to make $190.2M in the U.S. and Canada. That’s relatively modest, but the film, which won the Academy Award for Best Animated Picture, really appears to have found its audience on streaming, which pushed the sequel to unimaginable highs.
This is considered the best summer opening of the year, besting Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3‘s $114M. However, it falls short for the year of The Super Mario Bros. Movie which made $146.36M over three days and $204.6M over five, as that Sunday was Easter and it was spring break in a lot of areas.
Part of the reason for so many of the conservative projections for Across the Spider-Verse was due to the tendency for superhero movies to be front-loaded with fans turning out on the opening day and for previews because they want to experience it before spoilers start flying around social media. It was expected that attendance would trickle off over the weekend, but excellent reviews and word of mouth kept it chugging, along with repeat viewings. Tons of people saw it ASAP and immediately went back for more. This movie is THAT good!
Through CinemaScore, exiting audiences gave it an A versus the A+ that Into the Spider-Verse received. On Rotten Tomatoes, its critics’ score is an amazing 95%, and its audience score is 96%.
Across the Spider-Verse is a family movie so, of course, it webbed up a lot of the audience from last week’s top entry, The Little Mermaid. However, while it’s normal for big movies to take a huge plunge in its second weekend, The Little Mermaid managed to only drop 57% to $40.6M. That’s incredibly impressive and seems to indicate that there is room in the market for multiple films that appeal to the same demographic. It holds the #2 spot this weekend.
Okay, so Across the Spider-Verse and The Little Mermaid don’t ONLY appeal to families. Other people head to the cinema for fare that isn’t aimed at families. The highest-performing new entry is the horror film The Boogeyman which is also from Disney through their 20th Century imprint.
That picture opened to $12.3M. Its critical reviews are okay. Its RT score is 62%, and its audience score is higher at 67%. Through PostTrak, it received 2½ stars out of five. So… this movie is mid.
Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 and Fast X round out the Top Five, meaning that The Super Mario Bros. Movie has dropped out, but then again, it is now available on digital and it is (once again) a family movie. With Across the Spider-Verse and The Little Mermaid out, it appears to be time for this movie to take a bow.
Check out the Top Five numbers below:
1) Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony) – 3-day $120.5M/Wk 1
2.) The Little Mermaid (Disney) – 3-day $40.6M/ Total $186.2M/Wk 2
3.) The Boogeyman (20th/Disney) – 3-day $12.3M/Wk 1
4.) Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (Disney) – 3-day $10.2M/ Total $322.7M/ Wk 5
5.) Fast X (Universal) – 3-day $9.2M/Total $128.4M/ Wk 3
Geez, June, calm down! It’s just big movie after big movie! There’s no room to breathe or to stay away from the theater! Next weekend sees the release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. Early previews start on Wednesday. Yeah, I gotta see this because it appears that Arcee is a major player this time. I love Arcee!!!
But again, this is a four-quadrant film. It’s taking on Spider-Man and The Little Mermaid. Will it take the top spot? Probably.
Check back next week to see!
