Peter Parker is back. Ahead of the December 17 theatrical exclusive release of Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: No Way Home, how have the franchise’s prior installments performed at the global box office?
The character has proven one of the most popular in 21st century film — from the original trilogy starring Tobey Maguire and directed by Sam Raimi, to the subsequent duo of films starring Andrew Garfield and directed by Mark Webb, to the current trilogy (and counting?) starring Tom Holland and directed by Jon Watts, and not forgetting the animated film which has launched a nascent series of its own.
This list is ordered by global revenue earned during a film’s original theatrical run. It does not take into account admissions, re-releases, or figures adjusted for inflation.
Note: this list only includes the eight films to date in which Spider-Man was the main character; otherwise, the top two entries by wide margins would be 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
#1: Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
The first — and so far only — Spider-Man film to cross the $1 billion threshold. “Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” travelled quite a distance from his usual New York City in this Europe-set sequel, the second installment starring Holland. Jake Gyllenhaal joined the cast as the possible-ally / possible-enemy Mysterio.
Global gross: $1.13B
Yearly global rank: #4, behind Avengers: Endgame, The Lion King, and Frozen II
Overseas vs. domestic split: 65.5% / 34.5%
Domestic opening weekend: $92.5M but that was dampened by its Tuesday opening; $195.9M opening week.
Top 10 overseas markets:
- China: $198.9M
- South Korea: $56.3M
- United Kingdom: $47.1M
- Mexico: $32.2M
- Japan: $28.1M
- Australia: $27.6M
- France: $26.1M
- Russia: $21.3M
- Brazil: $20.4M
- Germany: $19.4M
#2: Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Maguire’s final installment found him facing three villains simultaneously: Sandman, Venom, and the “new” Green Goblin (the son of the Green Goblin from the original film). Today, the film may be most remembered for the intentionally awkward dance sequence, which has been referenced and lampooned in subsequent Spider-Man films.
Global gross: $894.9M
Yearly global rank: #3, behind Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Overseas vs. domestic split: 62.4% / 37.6%
Domestic opening weekend: $151.M
Top 10 overseas markets:
- United Kingdom: $67.8M
- Japan: $58.3M
- France: $54.5M
- Mexico: $36.8M
- South Korea: $33.9M
- Germany: $29.5M
- Italy: $26.3M
- Spain: $24.6M
- Brazil: $24.2M
- Australia: $19.6M
#3: Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Holland’s incarnation had originally been introduced as a supporting character in the prior year’s Captain America: Civil War. This film, the first with Holland’s iteration as a lead character, costarred Michael Keaton as Vulture and Zendaya as love interest MJ.
Global gross: $880.1M
Yearly global rank: #6, behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious, Despicable Me 3, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Overseas vs. domestic split: 62.0% / $38.0%
Domestic opening weekend: $117.0M
Top 10 overseas markets:
- China: $116.2M
- South Korea: $51.5M
- United Kingdom: $39.5M
- Brazil: $31.8M
- Mexico: $27.0M
- Japan: $25.3M
- Australia: $19.7M
- France: $18.7M
- Russia: $16.3M
- Indonesia: $12.3M
#4: Spider-Man (2002)
The one that started it all. The original film became the first movie to ever break a $100M opening weekend domestically. Costarring Willem Dafoe as the villain Green Goblin and Kirsten Dunst as love interest Mary Jane Watson, the film features arguably the most iconic sequence in any Spider-Man film, when Peter and Mary Jane kiss upside down in the rain. (Plus the film inspired the Weird Al Yankovic song Ode to a Superhero, his parody of Piano Man by Billy Joel.)
Global gross: $825.0M
Yearly global rank: #3, behind The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Overseas vs. domestic split: 50.7% / 49.3%
Domestic opening weekend: $114.8M
Top 10 overseas markets:
- Japan: $58.9M
- United Kingdom: $45.7M
- France: $32.9M
- Mexico: $31.1M
- Germany: $30.6M
- Spain: $23.7M
- Italy: $20.8M
- Brazil: $17.5M
- Australia: $17.2M
- South Korea: $16.9M
#5: Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Alfred Molina portrayed villain Doctor Octopus in this sequel, as Parker tries to fight off an ebbing of his superpowers. This was the installment that officially positioned Spider-Man as the sequel-heavy franchise that it became.
Global gross: $788.9M
Yearly global rank: #3, behind Shrek 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Overseas vs. domestic split: 52.6% / 47.4%
Domestic opening weekend: $88.1M but dampened because it opened on a Wednesday; $192.0M opening week
Top 10 overseas markets:
- Japan: $59.5M
- United Kingdom: $49.7M
- France: $40.2M
- Italy: $24.4M
- Germany: $24.2M
- Mexico: $20.5M
- Spain: $18.8M
- Australia: $17.8M
- Brazil: $16.0M
- South Korea: $13.0M
#6: The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
Garfield’s two entries rank as the bottom two live-action entries on this list, which belies their status: both still ranked among the biggest films of their respective years. In this reboot, Emma Stone costarred as love interest Gwen Stacy, with Martin Sheen and Sally Field playing Parker’s Uncle Ben and Aunt May.
Global gross: $757.9M
Yearly global rank: #7, behind The Avengers, Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2
Overseas vs. domestic split: 65.4% / 34.6%
Domestic opening weekend: $62.0M but dampened because it came out on a Monday; $144.5M opening week
Top 10 overseas markets:
- China: $48.8M
- United Kingdom: $40.2M
- Japan: $39.2M
- South Korea: $36.0M
- Brazil: $30.3M
- Mexico: $28.7M
- France: $22.6M
- Russia: $21.9M
- Germany: $18.5M
- Australia: $17.9M
#7: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Jamie Foxx joined the cast as the villain Electro, who can shoot electricity from his fingertips. Plans for a sequel were announced but ultimately fell apart, leading to the subsequent reboot with Holland which continues to this day.
Global gross: $708.9M
Yearly global rank: #9, behind Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Guardians of the Galaxy, Maleficent, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Overseas vs. domestic split: 71.4% / 28.6%
Domestic opening weekend: $91.6M
Top 10 overseas markets:
- China: $94.4M
- United Kingdom: $40.4M
- South Korea: $33.7M
- Japan: $30.2M
- Mexico: $28.4M
- Brazil: $24.8M
- France: $22.7M
- Russia: $20.8M
- Germany: $15.9M
- Australia: $14.8M
#8: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Sure, this title might appear last on the list, but the box office isn’t everything. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, the only non-Disney film of the past nine winners. (The prior non-Disney winner was Rango in 2012, for the best films of 2011.) And Spider-Verse currently ranks as the #65 rated movie of all time by users on IMDb, by far the highest-rated Spider-Man film.
The film starred the voices of Shameik Moore as a biracial version of the titual superhero alias Miles Morales, Hailee Steinfeld as as Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman, and Mahershala Ali as Miles’ uncle. Sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) comes out in theaters October 7, 2022.
Global gross: $375.5M
Yearly global rank: #25
Overseas vs. domestic split: 49.3% / 50.7% [the only Spider-Man film to earn the majority of its money domestically]
Domestic opening weekend: $35.3M [but a 5.3x multiple, the highest of any Spider-Man film]
Top 10 overseas markets:
- China: $62.8M
- United Kingdom: $13.7M
- Australia: $10.3M
- Mexico: $8.8M
- Brazil: $8.4M
- Japan: $8.0M
- Russia: $6.1M
- France: $5.9M
- Spain: $5.6M
- South Korea: $5.3M
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