Ten years ago, the cinematic landscape witnessed a groundbreaking moment with the first $100 million opening weekend. This milestone was achieved by Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man,” a film that not only met but exceeded expectations, fueled by two decades of anticipation, positive reviews, and a post-9/11 yearning for distinctly American heroism. Reflecting on that memorable weekend in May 2002, it’s clear that “Spider-Man’s” success was a complete surprise in an era where box office tracking and saturation-level opening weekends have become a science.
At the time, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” had set a three-day record with $92 million just six months prior. “Spider-Man” wasn’t even expected to be the biggest movie of summer 2002; that honor was anticipated to go to “Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones.” “Spider-Man” was seen as the warm-up act, the summer kick-off film that would whet the appetite for the bigger releases to follow. However, as history shows, sometimes the summer kick-off films can surprise everyone.
“Spider-Man” opened with $39 million on its first Friday, setting a single-day record that was broken the very next day with a $43 million Saturday gross. By Sunday, the film had amassed $114 million, surpassing “Harry Potter” by $22 million and becoming the first film in history to reach the $100 million mark in its opening weekend. But the surprises didn’t end there. The film’s strong word of mouth and lack of competition led to a record-breaking non-opening weekend of $72 million in its second Fri-Sun frame. To put that in perspective, at the time, it would have been the fourth-biggest weekend of all time.
Even when “Attack of the Clones” debuted with $80 million in its opening weekend, “Spider-Man” still managed to pull in another $46 million in its third weekend. Over the four-day Memorial Day holiday weekend, it added another $35 million, bringing its total to $333 million and racing towards $350 million in record time. Its second weekend still ranks fourth among all second weekends, and only “Avatar” has had a stronger third weekend. Even ten years later, only “Avatar” and “Titanic” had stronger fourth weekends.
However, after Memorial Day, “Spider-Man” began to behave like a regular movie. Despite earning $333 million in its first 18 days, it only added $70 million more over its entire run, finishing with $403 million, making it the fifth-biggest domestic grosser of all time. This was a reminder that even the leggiest blockbusters are essentially finished after two months. “Spider-Man” crossed $333 million by the end of its fourth weekend but needed another six weeks to cross $400 million. It took another six weeks to earn an additional $3.5 million.
“Spider-Man” wasn’t a game-changer in the grand scheme of things. The second wave of comic book movies had already been initiated by “Blade” and “X-Men,” and it wasn’t until the 2008 releases of “Iron Man” and “The Dark Knight” that any other comic book film reached the heights of the “Spider-Man” franchise. The big-budget, four-quadrant global blockbuster fantasy film trend had already been set in motion by the 2001 releases of “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.” “Spider-Man” was more a case of being the right movie at the right place at the right time.
Its box office triumph was one of the last times a mega-success of this kind was genuinely surprising. The film’s unexpected quality played a significant role in its success, especially coming off a lackluster summer season. Audiences were relieved to see a predetermined blockbuster that took the time to be a real movie, emphasizing character and storytelling over web-slinging action. “Spider-Man” felt like a ‘full meal’ compared to other summer releases like “Tomb Raider” and “Planet of the Apes.”
Reflecting on the film’s success, it’s the element of surprise that stands out the most. The surprise at how satisfying the movie was, the surprise at its massive opening weekend, and the surprise at how well it resonated across the country. It was perhaps the movie that America needed at that time. While it would have been a hit regardless, the film’s 9/11-timeliness and the ‘New Yorkers unite’ climactic moment, despite its silliness, clearly benefited from the unfortunate world events of the time.
Ten years later, Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” still holds up as one of the better origin story comic book films of our time. Its groundbreaking success feels completely earned, if only by virtue of how unforced it felt at the time. In today’s era of predetermined record-setting blockbusters, its success feels almost quaint.
Source: Scott Mendelson
