Sony Pictures Animation’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is having a spectacular weekend at the box office with a $120.5 million opening weekend from 4,313 theaters.
Not only is that more than triple the $35 million opening weekend of the film’s 2018 predecessor “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” it is more than double the previous opening weekend record for Sony Animation, which was earned by “Hotel Transylvania” with $48.4 million in 2015.
In the four-and-a-half years since “Into the Spider-Verse” first hit theaters and won the Best Animated Feature Oscar, it has gained reputation among Marvel and animation fans as one of the best “Spider-Man” adaptations ever and a groundbreaking work in computer animation as it streamed on Netflix as part of that service’s deal with Sony Pictures. That was reflected in the film’s demographics, which look more like a superhero movie than a family movie with 62% of the opening weekend audience from the 18-34 demographic.
That growing familiarity with the film primed the pump for “Across the Spider-Verse,” and the film executed with critical and audience acclaim, earning Rotten Tomatoes scores of 95% critics and 97% audience along with an A on CinemaScore. The film is set for a long fruitful run, and after its cliffhanger ending should set up an excellent opening for the next chapter of the series, “Beyond the Spider-Verse,” currently set for release in March 2024.
In second is Disney’s remake of “The Little Mermaid” with $40.6 million grossed in its second weekend, a respectable 57% drop from the film’s $118 million opening weekend. With $186 million grossed after ten days, “The Little Mermaid” is enjoying a successful run in the U.S. on par with Disney’s 2019 remake of “Aladdin.”
Overseas, “The Little Mermaid” got some good news after a poor $68 million international opening, dropping just 34% for $42 million in second weekend. With a global total of $327 million after two weekends, “The Little Mermaid” will still have a final total well below that of other recent Disney theatrical remakes, but may be able to turn a modest theatrical profit against its $250 million budget before marketing if it continues to leg out, particularly in Europe.
Disney also released the horror film “The Boogeyman” through 20th Century Studios this weekend, earning an $12 million opening weekend from 3,205 theaters, with $7.7 million grossed overseas for a worldwide start of around $20 million. Based on Stephen King’s short story of the same name, “The Boogeyman” was produced on a $35 million budget and was pivoted from a release on Hulu to movie theaters. Reception for the film was mildly positive with a B- on CinemaScore and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 60% critics and 65% audience.
Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is in fourth with $10.2 million in its fifth weekend, bringing its totals to $322 million domestic and $780 million worldwide. The MCU movie beat out the third weekend of Universal’s “Fast X,” which is languishing domestically with a 60% drop to $9.2 million but is still holding on internationally with $42 million grossed this weekend.
With $128.4 million domestic and $603 million grossed worldwide, “Fast X” is counting on the overseas popularity of “Fast & Furious” to get it to a theatrical break-even point against its $340 million production budget.
