The animated “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” has begun hitting releases worldwide, and with it comes what is expected to be a worldwide box office debut weekend of over $150 million.
The film is expected to gross between $80 million and $90 million domestically from Friday to Sunday, while overseas it is expected to gross $60 million, with at least a third coming from China.
That’s a significant increase from the first film’s domestic opening of $35.3 million that launched in 2018. That film ultimately earned $384.3 million worldwide on a budget of $90 million combined with a massive critical appreciation and an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
The sequel is said to have a not much larger budget at $100 million, despite having a decidedly larger scale and more complex animation, so Sony Pictures should easily recoup its money and start turning a profit quickly.
Critics help. With 82 reviews counted, the film is up 95% (8.7/10) on Rotten Tomatoes while on Metacritic it is at 87/100. That’s essentially on par with its predecessor, which scored 97% (8.8/10) on RT and 87/100 on MC.
It also doesn’t face as much competition. Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” is expected to come in second with $40 million domestically, down 58%. Overseas, ‘Mermaid’ is sinking as disappointing box office returns suggest that while the film could very well break even, it’s not doing enough business overseas to generate profits for Disney.
Also opening this week is horror feature “The Boogeyman,” which is expected to gross around $15 million for the weekend domestically.
Source: Deadline