Thread Drift: Was The Amazing Spider-Man (financially) successful?

[Mister Mets]

There's no question whether to make a sequel to The Amazing Spider-man. A third is very much in doubt I would expect. If you can kick out 5 smaller films with a higher ROI than one big one, you go with the smaller ones.

This big did well enough to warrant another chance. The next time will have to do quite a bit better for the third to get more than the Batman And Robin treatment, if it gets made at all.

I disagree here.

As long as there is an ROI, they'll keep pumping out sequels.

Delaying any sequels could actually endanger the ROI by decreasing brand awareness, and increasing production costs.

And by your "if it gets made at all" you seem to be expressing a doubt that there will be a The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I've seen nothing to indicate that there's a possibility there won't be a sequel.

They're going to stick with the Green Goblin origin. Trust me. Why? He's one of Spider-man's biggest villains. He was the villain in the first film and the stage musical. For all intents and purposes he is Spider-man's Joker. They can't spend the entire first film building up Oscorp and its dirty secrets to just never address it within the trilogy. They'd be more likely to damage the box office potential of the franchise.

As for any re-evaluations, I'm willing to wager that Sony already lowered expectations well before the film even hit. People were casting shade on the idea of a reboot since they first announced it. People were crying about the casting and that Raimi wasn't returning and about the lead actor's hairstyle.

And to this film will have to offset the losses elsewhere in Sony, this isn't the only big film they have for the year. They had MiB3 earlier this summer and have Skyfall coming up. They're not pegging their entire success on one film.

Skyfall will probably be a hit.

Men in Black 3 is more complicated, as they lost a lot of money due to delays and false starts. That represents a problem for sequels. The production budget would include stuff like rejected plans for sequels. Any costs from Tim Burton and Nicholas Cage's plans for Superman Lives are part of the production budget for Superman Returns.

[AJBopp]

I disagree here.

As long as there is an ROI, they'll keep pumping out sequels.

Yes, but only when the ROI is compared against the entire business, not just the franchise.

And by your "if it gets made at all" you seem to be expressing a doubt that there will be a The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I've seen nothing to indicate that there's a possibility there won't be a sequel.

I am expressing doubt that there will be The Amazing Spider-man 3 if The Amazing Spider-man 2 continues such a dramatic downward slide. I have never cast doubt that 2 will be made.

[President Kang]

"Dramatic downward slide" when a movie clears 650 million dollars worldwide. Got it. Must be positively shocked over at Sony. Most likely it's going to end up just underneath 700 million total. Dramatic downward slide. Check. Very off putting.

[AJBopp]

"Dramatic downward slide" when a movie clears 650 million dollars worldwide. Got it. Must be positively shocked over at Sony. Most likely it's going to end up just underneath 700 million total. Dramatic downward slide. Check. Very off putting.

Indeed so. Given the budget of this film and the income of the previous films (particularly given that all three previous films earned more than the one before it), a return of something slightly south of $3 for every $1 spent is startling, to say the least.

[derekakadrock]

Spider-Man 2 actually grossed less than the original Spider-Man, but Spider-Man 3 outgrossed both, so no, each film did not earn more than the previous.

[David Walton]

They set ASM 2 up to succeed or fail on its own merits.

[refrax5]

Again, I think it would take some serious optimism to be happy with the film's results from a return on investment standpoint. Making money and making enough money are entirely different things. For a franchise that was consistently upwardly mobile to suddenly drop this much is at best disconcerting. It did well enough to warrant another movie, but if the next one drops as this one did it's unlikely there will be a third. Sony will be looking at this franchise with a very critical eye going forward I think.

From what magazines like EW seem to be reporting, they're pretty happy with it, as it was a whole new cast and director and they weren't expecting it to be as huge as the previous films as a result. Seeing as they're working on a sequel, I think it's fine. I can't speak for the "pop culture osmosis" but we still have a big display of it at the Barnes and Noble I work at, and I know plenty of people who saw it and are looking forward to the next one. I don't think it was really forgotten or disappointing. It was far better received than I was expecting it to be. Of course some of the fanfare was going to be drowned out by it being sandwiched between Avengers and Batman, two massive franchises and of course it wasn't going to be the smash hit the previous Spider-Man movies were. All things considered, it was a good movie and a modest success, enough of one to warrant a sequel. No one in Hollywood seems to be referring to it as a disappointment. I think stuff like Incredible Hulk or Superman Returns qualify more as "disappointments."

[CyberHubbs]

Not to mention that big movies like ASM usually come with a larger merchandise revenue than a smaller film.

[Ultimate.Spiderman]

From what magazines like EW seem to be reporting, they're pretty happy with it, as it was a whole new cast and director and they weren't expecting it to be as huge as the previous films as a result. Seeing as they're working on a sequel, I think it's fine. I can't speak for the "pop culture osmosis" but we still have a big display of it at the Barnes and Noble I work at, and I know plenty of people who saw it and are looking forward to the next one. I don't think it was really forgotten or disappointing. It was far better received than I was expecting it to be. Of course some of the fanfare was going to be drowned out by it being sandwiched between Avengers and Batman, two massive franchises and of course it wasn't going to be the smash hit the previous Spider-Man movies were. All things considered, it was a good movie and a modest success, enough of one to warrant a sequel. No one in Hollywood seems to be referring to it as a disappointment. I think stuff like Incredible Hulk or Superman Returns qualify more as "disappointments."

Nicely Put.

[President Kang]

At 697,359,828, 2-ish million more dollars and it'll crack 700 million total. Probably be next weekend.
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman4.htm

It's still playing 9:45 shows in 3D at this one theatre closeby. I'm waiting for it to pop up at the 2nd run theatre for 4 bucks, 2D (2 bucks on Tuesday!) for 3rd viewing. I actually like the 2nd run theatres, they're a hoot.

[Voulge]

Hope so, Marvel must get there SPidey movie rights back.

[ShaggyB]

Hope so, Marvel must get there SPidey movie rights back.

how would it being a success get marvel the rights back from sony?

[President Kang]

At 697,359,828, 2-ish million more dollars and it'll crack 700 million total. Probably be next weekend.
http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=spiderman4.htm

It's still playing 9:45 shows in 3D at this one theatre closeby. I'm waiting for it to pop up at the 2nd run theatre for 4 bucks, 2D (2 bucks on Tuesday!) for 3rd viewing. I actually like the 2nd run theatres, they're a hoot.

Whoops, my bad, passed 700 mil already.

[satchmo the dragon]

They should have gotten a younger actor. Or just ponied up for tobey. I still havent seen this.

[Xenon]

How is this even a topic? the movie has made 250 million dollars domestically, it's made 700 million dollars worldwide. It's the fifth highest grossing movie in a year that features the third highest grossing movie ever and the sequel to the former third highest grossing movie ever.

It's made nearly as much as the other films (~200 million), and it was a reboot made just five years after the last poorly received movie. Batman Begins didn't make nearly this much, just the nature of making this kinda movie. (In fact, according to boxofficemojo, it's the highest grossing reboot of the last decade). But to suggest it didn't make enough money to make a sequel is just silly.