The First 7 Movies to Open to Over $100 Million

In 2024 alone, five different movies bowed to $100+ million domestic opening weekends. Eight years earlier, in 2016, eight motion pictures exceeded $100+ million on opening weekend. These statistics reflect how common it’s become to have major theatrical movies debut to eight-digit figure bows over their debut weekends. Heck, movies can now open to $250+ million over a single weekend without breaking a sweat! These realities would’ve been unthinkable as late as 2001, the last year where no movie had ever cracked $100+ million during a three-day opening weekend.

From 2002 to 2007, seven movies established that $100+ million domestic opening weekends were possible. This wasn’t just a flukey number that belonged to a single motion picture, it was an opening weekend figure that multiple blockbusters could hit. The first seven movies in history to hit $100+ million domestic opening weekends have long since been surpassed by more modern blockbuster opening weekends benefiting from both inflation and the greater ubiquity of IMAX ticket prices. However, these features will forever be historically important for how they changed the box office game forever.

Spider-Man

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Spider-Man really was the movie that revolutionized the Hollywood blockbuster landscape. Its $114 million debut wasn’t just the first time in history that a motion picture opened to $100+ million over its domestic debut. It also more than doubled X-Men’s opening weekend from 2000. A new ceiling had been established for Marvel Comics adaptations that would only get higher and higher in the years to come. Tobey Maguire’s inaugural Spider-Man outing established that $100+ million debuts were possible, paving the way for Marvel films to own the first weekend in May.

Shrek 2

Thanks to 2003’s biggest blockbusters (namely The Matrix Reloaded and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) opening on either Wednesday or Thursday, no 2003 movies scored $100+ million weekends. It would take until Shrek 2 in May 2004 (two years after Spider-Man premiered) for this to happen again. Shrek 2’s glorious three-day opening weekend amounted to an eye-popping $108 million, by far the biggest animated movie bow in history. This ogre was truly an “All-Star” at the box office with such a tremendous debut.

Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

“The dark side of The Force is a pathway to many abilities,” they say, and apparently it’s also a pathway to a massive opening weekend. Even though it burned off demand with a Thursday launch, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith still procured a whopping $108.4 million debut. Narrowly edging out Shrek 2 to post the second-biggest domestic opening weekend in history, Revenge of the Sith was an instant box office juggernaut. Opening 35% ahead of Attack of the Clones’ domestic debut, Episode III became only the third $100+ million domestic opener ever.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2005 was a historic year for the domestic box office. This was the first year in history where two different movies had $100+ million domestic openings. What was once thought impossible was now occurring multiple times in a single year. Six months after Revenge of the Sith’s $108.4 million debut, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire hit theaters and amassed a massive $102.6 million. This robust debut was also the first time a $100+ million opening occurred outside of May. These lofty figures were now possible any time of the year, including the pre-Thanksgiving slot Goblet of Fire bowed in.

X-Men: The Last Stand

Six years after X-Men’s terrific box office run, X-Men: The Last Stand’s domestic bow showed how far this franchise had come. The Brett Ratner directorial effort opened to an exceptional $102 million, 20% ahead of X2: X-Men United’s bow in 2003. It also reaffirmed May as a place where box office hits blossomed, since The Last Stand was the fourth $100+ million opener launched in this month. The only downside was The Last Stand collapsing after opening weekend. Thanks to dismal word-of-mouth, the film was the first $100+ million opener to finish its theatrical run with under $250 million in North America.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest

Four years after Spider-Man set a domestic box office opening weekend record, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest swooped in and took in enough loot to claim that crown. Its $136 million opening weekend was a staggering figure that marked a $22 million improvement on Spider-Man’s bow. Dead Man’s Chest’s ascension to box office history was already assured when it became the first movie ever to make $100+ million in North America in just two days. Dead Man’s Chest also bowed in July, another sign that, like Goblet of Fire, $100+ million debuts could happen anywhere.

Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man 3 was a turning point for $100+ million openers, and not just because it was the first movie ever to exceed $150+ million on opening weekend. This Sam Raimi film kicked off May 2007, a month that would house three $100+ million domestic opening weekends. In four weeks, the number of $100+ million openers ballooned from six to nine, a 50% increase. While this kind of debut was still remarkable, it was also becoming more common if three could happen in a month. Five years after Spider-Man scored the first $100+ million domestic opening, the tides were turning. Spider-Man 3’s $151 million bow solidified that reality.

Spider-Man 3 is now streaming on Netflix and Disney+.