Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Makes Box Office History in Massive Preview Night

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse beat expectations with a huge $16 million preview night box office haul — the second highest preview night numbers for an animated film, behind The Incredibles 2. That’s a great sign for Into the Spider-Verse (and the box office as a whole), because at present, Incredibles 2 holds the record for the highest opening-weekend box office for an animated film. It eventually went on to gross more than $1.2 billion, making it one of the most successful animated movies ever, and more than tripling what Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse made.

Into the Spider-Verse had a $35 million opening weekend, which led to an eventual $375 million worldwide. The movie was kind of an unknown quantity, and some fans were reluctant to buy in. Enthusiasm for the movie really picked up after a few weeks, when word of mouth was strong and Oscar buzz started to happen. It would go on to win Best Animated Feature at the 91st Academy Awards.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has fewer doubters, and is starting with great reviews — it currently sits at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes — and a ton of excitement for what’s in store. Box office projections suggest it won’t pass The Incredibles 2‘s huge $180 million opening, but will probably weigh in somewhere around $80 million to $90 million domestically and $150 million worldwide. That’s not quite the blockbuster that The Super Mario Bros. Movie was, opening at almost $150 million domestically over the Easter weekend, but it’s great numbers that suggest Across the Spider-Verse will easily out-earn Into the Spider-Verse, and leave Sony feeling pretty good about the third installment. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is expected in theaters in March 2024.

Miles Morales returns to the big screen in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, hitting theaters on June 2nd. Miles (Shamiek Moore) reunites with fellow heroes Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) for another web-swinging adventure through the multiverse, finding himself at odds with the Spider-Society led by Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac). Other new heroes include Spider-Woman Jessica Drew (Issa Rae), Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), and Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), while new villain the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) also enters the fray. The sequel to Sony Pictures’ hit 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, and written by the team of Chris Miller, Phil Lord, and Dave Callaham.