After Marvel‘s “The Avengers” made a billion dollars, and became the third highest grossing movie of all time, rival studios freaked. And so, they began to plot their own massive, cinematic comic universes while also spending big money on their properties, hoping to join Marvel in the billion dollar club. Ambitious goals, but can everyone do it?
We’ll soon see as Variety reports that, according to their sources, Sony honcho Amy Pascal has set a target of $1 billion worldwide for “The Amazing Spider-Man 2.” Well, yeah, probably. Given that the studio is going hard on this franchise, with “The Amazing Spider-Man 3” already slotted for 2016, and with “Sinister Six” and “Venom” films already in development, of course they want this to be huge. But is it even realistic? One has to look at the numbers to see if they’re dreaming or if its realistic.
The first “The Amazing Spider-Man” wasn’t the kind of reboot Sony likely wanted. It earned less than any of the Sam Raimi films, and at the domestic box office, the $262 million haul paled in comparison to the $490 million the movie earned overseas (it made up for 65% of the total gross of $752 million). Moreover, reviews were mixed, and for the sequel, they are arguably even worse (read our assessment), but at the end of the day (sorry critics) that kind of doesn’t matter. Right now, the film is tracking for an opening weekend that could top $100 million, a massive improvement over the $62 million debut weekend of the first film. If the overseas numbers follow suit, $1 billion isn’t out of the question.
Already open in the U.K., “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” drops stateside on May 2nd. Will you be in line?