'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Spins Massive Money-Making Web on Opening Day

The following story contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and its titular protagonist have officially swung into theaters. The fans showed up in droves on Friday, and Sony Pictures Animation’s latest entry in the Spider-Verse made a killing at the box office on opening day.

Yes, Brooklyn’s one and only Spider-Man, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), is back! And moviegoers were ready, willing and able to pay out their hard-earned money in order to follow the further adventures of the teenage Spidey, his mentor and friend Peter Parker, aka the original Spider-Man (Jake Johnson), and love interest Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld).

Deadline reports Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse got off to a very hot start en route to its impressive opening-day box office numbers. It’s estimated that the film took in around $40 million on Friday while playing in just over 4,300 cinemas.

The new animated adventure, which pits Miles against the self-appointed vampiric protector of the multiverse, Miguel O'Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac), got the ball rolling Thursday afternoon. The new release made $17.35 million during its preview screenings in just north of 3,560 locations before expanding to 4,313 venues on Friday.

These numbers bode well for the new chapter in young Morales’ story, in terms of forecasting financial success in movie theaters. Comparatively, the first film in the burgeoning franchise, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, only managed a preview total of $3.5 million back on Thursday, December 13, 2018.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is projected to haul in close to $100 million total over the weekend. So, by comparison, the Spider-Verse sequel seems poised to fare far better than its predecessor did during its own opening weekend.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse also posted a much more modest $35 million take at the box office during its debut in December of 2018. But the film did take advantage of the Christmas holiday on its way to a final worldwide total of almost $375.5 million during its original release. Meanwhile, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is currently on course to far, far exceed the first film’s global total.

Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing

Yes, judging by its initial numbers, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse looks like it’s going to be another winner for Sony in cinemas around the world, if audiences can continue to accept that shocking and unexpected cliffhanger: The stunning revelation that an evil, Earth 42-version of Miles Morales, aka the Prowler, exists.

That’s what moviegoers were left with as opposed to actually getting an immediate conclusion to Across the Spider-Verse. Much like the fans of Denis Villeneuve’s 2021 Dune, Spider-Man enthusiasts are going to have to wait and see how Miles eventually escapes the clutches of his sinister doppelganger.

So far, the numbers bear out the fact that moviegoers can live with the picture’s ending. At the time of this writing, the film is scoring well with both critics and audiences. Spidey currently boasts a Rotten Tomatometer rating of 95% and a 97% audience score.

So, the sky’s the limit for Miles Morales’ heroic, web-slinging alter ego, in terms of the future. And he is already slated to return in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. However, the release date for the follow-up to Across the Spider-Verse has yet to be announced.