Box office
Spider-Man became the first film to pass the $100 million mark in a single weekend, even when adjusting for inflation, with its $114,844,116[178] gross establishing a new opening weekend record.[179][180] The gross surpassed the previous record holder's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $90.3 million opening; on this, Rick Lyman of The New York Times wrote "while industry executives had expected a strong opening for the film because there was little competition in the marketplace and prerelease polling indicated intense interest from all age groups, no one predicted that Spider-Man would surpass the Harry Potter record."[180] Starting with Twister in 1996, the benefits of bowing in May had been first fully exploited with its $41 million opening weekend.[181] Following comparable debuts of Deep Impact in 1998 and The Mummy in 1999, the frame was taken to the next level in 2001 with the release of The Mummy Returns. Spider-Man had not only made history for a summer starter film, but for weekends as well.[181] It surpassed The Lost World: Jurassic Park to have the largest May opening weekend.[182] When the film was released, it was ranked number one at the box office, beating The Scorpion King.[183] The film also broke X-Men's record for having the highest opening weekend for a superhero film.[179]
The film also set a record for crossing the $100 million milestone in three days, at the time being the fastest any film had reached the mark.[184] This opening weekend haul had an average of $31,769 per theater, which at the time, Box Office Mojo reported as being "the highest per theater average ever for an ultra-wide release."[179] The film's three-day record was surpassed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest four years later.[185] The $114.8 million opening weekend was the highest at the North America box office film for a non-sequel, until it was surpassed eight years later by Alice in Wonderland.[186] Spider-Man would hold the record for having the highest-three day gross until it was surpassed by Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005.[187] Within four days, it had the biggest non-holiday Monday of all time with $11 million, increasing the total gross to $125.1 million and staying ahead of recent blockbusters, including Charlie's Angels and Erin Brockovich.[188]
With the film's release in the United States and Canada on May 3, 2002, on 7,500 screens at 3,615 theaters,[180] the film earned $39,406,872 on its opening day, averaging $10,901 per theater.[189] This was the highest opening day at the time until it was surpassed by its sequel Spider-Man 2's $40.4 million haul in 2004.[190] For three years, the film would hold the record for having the highest Friday gross until 2005 when it was overtaken by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.[191] Upon its opening, it had the third-highest number of screenings of any film, behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Mission: Impossible 2.[179] Spider-Man also set an all-time record for the highest earnings in a single day with $43,622,264 on its second day of release,[179][189] a record later surpassed by Shrek 2 in 2004.[192] On the Sunday during its opening weekend, the film earned an additional $31,814,980,[189] the highest gross a film took in on a Sunday, at the time.[179]
The film stayed at the top position in its second weekend ahead of Unfaithful and The New Guy, dropping only 38% and grossing another $71,417,527,[193] while averaging $19,755.89 per theater. At the time, this was the highest-grossing second weekend of any film.[193] During its second weekend, the film reached the $200 million mark on its ninth day of release, also a record at the time.[193] This made it the fastest film to cross the $200 million mark, surpassing Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[194] At the end of its second weekend, the film brought in a 10-day total of $223,040,031.[193] It quickly surpassed Ice Age to become the highest-grossing film of the year.[193] Spider-Man had crossed over 149 spots on the top-grossing film chart, landing in 29th place between Rush Hour 2 and Mrs. Doubtfire while excelling past the final tallies of other films, including Batman Forever, Mission: Impossible 2 and The Mummy Returns.[193]
The film dropped to the second position in its third weekend, behind Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, but still made $45,036,912, dropping only 37%, averaging $12,458 per theater, and bringing the 17-day tally to $285,573,668.[195] Its third weekend haul set the record for highest-grossing third weekend, which was first surpassed by Avatar (2009).[196] Spider-Man would beat another record that was previously held by The Phantom Menace, becoming the quickest film to hit $300 million in just 22 days.[197] It stayed at the second position in its fourth weekend, grossing $35,814,844 over the four-day Memorial Day frame, dropping only 21% while expanding to 3,876 theaters, averaging $9,240 over four days, and bringing the 25-day gross to $333,641,492.[198] Within 66 days, it was the fastest film to approach $400 million, tying its record with Titanic.[199] Both films held this record for two years before being surpassed by Shrek 2.[200]
At the box office, Spider-Man became 2002's highest-grossing film with $407,022,860 in the U.S. and Canada, defeating The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Attack of the Clones.[201] As of 2021, Spider-Man ranks as the 37th-highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. and Canada, not adjusted for inflation. The film also grossed $418,002,176 from its international markets, bringing its worldwide total to $825,025,036[202] making it 2002's third-highest-grossing film behind The Two Towers and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the 58th-highest-grossing film of all time, worldwide.[203] Additionally, it was the highest-grossing Sony film of all time, beating out Men in Black.[204][205] Spider-Man also dethroned Batman's record for becoming the highest-grossing superhero film of all time.[204][206] The film sold an estimated 69,484,700 tickets in the US.[202] It held the record for most tickets sold by a comic book movie until The Dark Knight topped it in 2008. As of 2020, it is still the sixth highest grossing comic book movie of all time adjusted for inflation. Only Avengers: Infinity War, The Dark Knight, Black Panther, The Avengers and Avengers: Endgame have sold more tickets than Spider-Man. Spider-Man was the highest-grossing superhero origin film, a record it held for 15 years until it was surpassed by Wonder Woman (2017).[207][208] As of 2020, it is the 12th-highest-grossing superhero film, as well as the 12th-highest-grossing comic book adaptation in general.[209][210][211]
Internationally, Spider-Man opened in 17 territories in its first week, earning a total of $13.3 million. It scored the second-highest opening in Iceland, Singapore and South Korea. Plus, Russia and Yugoslavia had the third best all time film opening.[212] Spider-Man would score the biggest opening in Switzerland with $1.4 million and 160,000 admissions from 106 screens, surpassing The World Is Not Enough. As for Germany, it had the strongest June opening and the third best debut of any movie, behind Attack of the Clones and Ice Age. Its opening screenings in France were a massive 10,645 admissions from 27 screens, beating out the French film Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.[213] Additionally, it set the highest opening gross in Spain.[214] Meanwhile, Spider-Man would go on to unleash new opening records in the UK during the 2002 FIFA World Cup soccer game. The film made $13.9 million from 509 screens, making it the country's fifth biggest movie opening, trailing only behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Phantom Menace, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Attack of the Clones. In addition, Spider-Man had the largest opening of any film in the UK with a BBFC certificate higher than a "PG" rating, staying ahead of Independence Day and Hannibal. Despite lunch matches, it still led the weekend box office to a bigger 110% week-to-week increase and a 130% year-on-year increase when Pearl Harbor led the chart during its third week.[215] It was the country's number one film for three weeks until it was displaced by Minority Report.[216] In India, the film was simultaneously released in English and three different languages across 250 screens, becoming the widest reach and return for a Hollywood title since The Mummy Returns in 2001. It was even Sony's first major release in the country since Godzilla in 1998.[217] The total number of international markets that generated grosses in excess of $10 million include Australia ($16.9 million), Brazil ($17.4 million), France, Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia ($32.9 million), Germany ($30.7 million), Italy ($20.8 million), Japan ($56.2 million), Mexico ($31.2 million), South Korea ($16.98 million), Spain ($23.7 million), and the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($45.8 million).[218]
Spider-Man became the highest-grossing superhero film of all time at the time of its release, both domestically and worldwide while surpassing Batman.[204] Its domestic gross was eventually topped by The Dark Knight (2008). Its worldwide gross was first surpassed by Spider-Man 3 (2007).
The film also held the record as Sony's highest-grossing film domestically until 2018, when it was finally surpassed by Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($404.5 million).[219][220]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 249 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Not only does Spider-Man provide a good dose of web-swinging fun, it also has a heart, thanks to the combined charms of director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire."[221] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[222] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[223]
The casting, mainly Maguire, Dafoe and Simmons, is often cited as one of the film's high points. Eric Harrison, of the Houston Chronicle, was initially skeptical of the casting of Maguire, but after seeing the film he stated, "it becomes difficult to imagine anyone else in the role."[224] USA Today critic Mike Clark believed the casting rivaled that of Christopher Reeve as 1978's Superman.[225] Owen Gleiberman, of Entertainment Weekly, had mixed feelings about the casting, particularly Tobey Maguire. "Maguire, winning as he is, never quite gets the chance to bring the two sides of Spidey—the boy and the man, the romantic and the avenger—together."[226] The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt thought: "the filmmakers' imaginations work in overdrive from the clever design of the cobwebby opening credits and Spider-Man and M.J.'s upside down kiss—after one of his many rescues of her—to a finale that leaves character relationships open ended for future adventures."[227]
LA Weekly's Manohla Dargis wrote, "It isn't that Spider-Man is inherently unsuited for live-action translation; it's just that he's not particularly interesting or, well, animated."[228] Giving it two and a half stars out of four, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times felt that the film lacked a decent action element: "Consider the scene where Spider-Man is given a cruel choice between saving Mary Jane or a cable car full of school kids. He tries to save both, so that everyone dangles from webbing that seems about to pull loose. The visuals here could have given an impression of the enormous weights and tensions involved, but instead the scene seems more like a bloodless storyboard of the idea."[229] Stylistically, there was heavy criticism of the Green Goblin's costume, which led IGN's Richard George to comment years later: "We're not saying the comic book costume is exactly thrilling, but the Goblin armor (the helmet in particular) from Spider-Man is almost comically bad... Not only is it not frightening, it prohibits expression."[230]
Entertainment Weekly put "the kiss in Spider-Man" on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying: "There's a fine line between romantic and corny. And the rain-soaked smooch between Spider-Man and Mary Jane from 2002 tap-dances right on that line. The reason it works? Even if she suspects he's Peter Parker, she doesn't try to find out. And that's sexy."[231]
Empire magazine ranked Spider-Man 437 in its 500 Greatest Movies of All Time list in 2008.[232]
Accolades
The film won several awards ranging from Teen Choice Awards to the Saturn Awards, and was also nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects and Best Sound (Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Ed Novick), but lost to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Chicago, respectively.[233][234] While only Danny Elfman brought home a Saturn Award, Raimi, Maguire, and Dunst were all nominated for their respective positions. It also took home the People's Choice Award for "Favorite Motion Picture."[234] The film was nominated for Favorite Movie at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, but lost to Austin Powers in Goldmember. Most notably, the upside down kissing scene won Best Kiss at the MTV Movie & TV Awards in 2003.
