According to Variety, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse just surpassed the entire box office haul of its predecessor after only 12 days. After the success of the first film, it was pretty much inevitable that the new movie would rule the box office upon release. In addition to the critical acclaim and goodwill that Across the Spider-Verse earned during its first week, the film brought in an absurd amount of money. Although there is a litany of reasons why both 2018's Into the Spider-Verse and its sequel Across the Spider-Verse became box office darlings, the key component to the series' success lies within the franchise's premise.
By virtue of featuring every obscure variant of Spider-Man, Sony Pictures Animation has practically ensured the attendance of countless fans of Marvel's flagship character with every subsequent film featuring the Spider-Verse. And with a third sequel boasting even more Spider-people on the horizon, it seems like the Spider-Verse franchise has nowhere to go but up.
Over the weekend, the comic book sequel hit $226 million in North America and $390 million globally. It now stands as Sony's highest-grossing animated release in history. The original film, also a box office winner, tapped out with $190 in North America and $384 million globally.
Despite competition from Paramount's "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts," which opened to $60 million and targets a similar audience of younger males, "Spider-Verse" added $55 million in its second weekend of domestic release, a decline of 55% from its huge $120 million debut.