While it may not have hit $40 million, Sony's critically-acclaimed Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is still exceeding expectations at the box office, swinging to an impressive $35.4 million launch. The animated feature now holds the record for the largest debut for an animated movie ever in the month of December, inching right past Universal's Sing ($35.2M).
Despite the incoming onslaught of Disney's Mary Poppins Returns, Warner Bros.' Aquaman, and Paramount's Bumblebee, Into the Spider-Verse, which earned the Spider-Man franchise's first A+ CinemaScore, should prove to be one of this winter's leggiest films.
Outside of Star Wars films, December is not typically a month for big opening weekends, but films that do open in this final calendar month tend to have strong multiples over the holiday season and into the new year. For comparison's sake, Sing opened with nearly identical numbers to Into the Spider-Verse and ultimately went on to gross over $634.1 million worldwide ($270.3M domestic; $363.7M foreign).
Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramseyand Rodney Rothman co-directed the animated feature, which carried a $90 million production budget (without P&A), with a script from Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman. Lord also served as a producer alongside his partner-in-crime Christopher Miller.
In addition to the amazing A+ CinemaScore, the film is also currently boasting a 97% approval rating on review aggregator RottenTomatoes and an 87 on Metacritic.
Meanwhile, overseas, Aquaman continued its impressive international rollout, bringing in another $126.4 million before its domestic debut next weekend. The James Wan-directed underwater epic has now topped $261.3 million worldwide, which includes over $189.2 million from China. With above average reviews, Aquaman should also look forward to an extremely lucrative winter.
As for this weekend's two other newcomers, Clint Eastwood's The Mule finished in second place with $17.2 million while Universal's Mortal Engines bombed with an estimated $7.5 million, finishing in a disappointing fifth-place. Its worldwide total stands at $42.3 million, which isn't promising as it looks to recoup its $100 million plus production budget.
Luckily for Universal, The Grinch continued to hold strong, finishing in third place with $11.6 million, taking its worldwide cume to $372.6 million ($239.2M domestic; $133.4 million foreign). The Viggo Mortensen/Mahershala Ali-led Green Book also held well for them with $2.78 million ($24.8 million worldwide total).
Disney's Ralph Breaks the Internet finished third with $9.6 million ($285.1M worldwide total), MGM's Creed II ($128 million worldwide total) finished sixth with $5.4 million, and J.K. Rowling's Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald finished ninth with $3.7 million ($576.7M worldwide total).
Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox's Once Upon a Deadpool, the PG-13 re-release of Deadpool 2, finished just outside the Top 10 with $2.6 million, taking its five-day haul to about $4 million, which is pretty solid for a limited engagement re-release.
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Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) and Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations' SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn) and Spider-Man (John Mulaney) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Spider-Ham (John Mulaney) Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage), and SP//DR in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) and Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) and Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Peni (Kimiko Glen), Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) as Spider-Man in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Peter Parker as Spider-Man (Chris Pine) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) and Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) and Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) as Spider-Gwen in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) falls through an alternate-universe New York City in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Peter Parker (Jake Johnson), Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), and Aunt May (Lily Tomlin) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Peter Parker as Spider-Man (Chris Pine) and the Green Goblin (Jorma Taccone) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) and Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Rio Morales (Luna Lauren Vélez) in Sony Pictures Animation's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
(L to R) Voice talent John Mulaney (Spider-Ham), Liev Schreiber (Kingpin), Jake Johnson (Peter Parker), Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Hailee Steinfeld (Spider-Gwen), Nicola Cage (Spider-Man Noir) and Kimono Glenn (Peni Parker) for Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations' SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE.
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the creative minds behind The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street, bring their unique talents to a fresh vision of a different Spider-Man Universe, with a groundbreaking visual style that’s the first of its kind. Spider-Man™: Into the Spider-Verse introduces Brooklyn teen Miles Morales, and the limitless possibilities of the Spider-Verse, where more than one can wear the mask.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse features:
Directors: Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey & Rodney Rothman
Shameik Moore as Miles Morales/Spider-Man
Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man
Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman
Mahershala Ali as Uncle Aaron/Prowler
Brian Tyree Henry as Jefferson Davis
Lily Tomlin as Aunt May
Luna Lauren Vélez as Rio Morales
Zoë Kravitz as Mary Jane
John Mulaney as Spider-Ham
Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker
Nicolas Cage as Spider-Man Noir
Kathryn Hahn as Doc Ock
Liev Schreiber as Wilson Fisk/Kingpin
Chris Pine as Peter Parker/Spider-Man
Natalie Morales as Miss Calleros
Edwin H. Bravo as Brooklyn Visions Security Guard
Oscar Isaac as Interesting Person #1
Greta Lee as Interesting Person #2
Stan Lee as Stan
Jorma Taccone as Green Goblin/Last Dude
Joaquín Cosio as Scorpion
Marvin Jones III as Tombstone
Lake Bell as Vanessa Fisk
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse swings into theaters December 14