Spider-Man 2 Why was Spider-Man 2 (2004) the LOWEST GROSSING FILM of the Sam Raimi Series?

[BionicleFan1994]

Question above. Why was Spider-Man 2 (2004) the LOWEST GROSSING FILM of the Sam Raimi Spider-Man Series in the US AND Worldwide when it was EASILY the BEST and MOST CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED MOVIE of the Trilogy?

 

[Detective Conan]

Sequels(with some exceptions like TDK and Winter Soldier) don’t generally outgross their breakout predecessors. So the reason why Spider-Man 2 grossed less than Spider-Man is the same reason Empire Strikes Back grossed less then it’s predecessors - the novelty “hook” factor that drives audiences to the first film was gone.

The original Spider-Man was greatly bolstered by the fact it was released a year after 9/11, as it provided for audiences a fun, colorful tone that served as nice escapism from the dire uncertainty of the times. Much like like how the original Star Wars was so popular because it came off the heels of the Vietnam war, and it provided audiences a feeling of jubilant escapism away from the darkness of the times. Spider-Man 2, while a great classic film, didn’t have the attractive hook to drive audiences this time around, the novelty of seeing Spider-Man on the big screen had worn off by then.

With Spider-Man 3, that attractive hook for audiences was the immense popularity of Venom, and how much hype there was seeing those two characters spar with each other in live-action for the very first time. Not to mention the cool and mysterious black suit Spider-Man which intrigued mainstream audiences, and played the factor in getting them curious about the movie. Spider-Man 2, didn’t really have either of those factors going for it and so it’s the least successful.

 

[Frodo]

Ironically, alot of the hype around SM3 was because SM2 was so well received by critics and audiences.

As far as why SM2 didn't gross as much as SM1, I can't really say.

Back in the day it was more common for the sequels to make less than the original .

It was a popular film and it was a hit , so it's not as if it was a great disappointment. There certainly wasn't a lack of interest by the GA in 2004.

I think it probably had more to do with the idea that the first film is always gonna have more hype surrounding it than the second film, especially since SM1 was the first time there had ever been a Spiderman film on the big screen ,sans the 70s TV show episodes which were shown as films around the world.

There was alot of anticipation for the very first Spiderman film, though the industry pundits, and even the studios, underestimated what a monster hit it would be.

Ultimately , it's stood the test of time anyway, and as seen as a benchmark in the Spiderman film canon in general ,and as a standard in the cbm genre.

So , regardless of what money it didn't make, the film is a success.

 

[Filmfreak]

The first Spider-Man was a cinematic breakthrough, especially for the genre. It was at a time where they barely made any superhero related stuff and they raised the bar like only one or two movies had dared to before that time. The third one made such a strong opening because of how well was Spider-Man 2 received. It's no secret that the box office revenue is very much affected by the previous entry.

 

[Zarex]

I believe it was the late, great Roger Ebert who said that majority of sequels back in the day were essentially remakes. Audiences had become conditioned to see them as quickly produced money grabs that mostly repeated the plot of the first film. So it wasn't unusual for folks who enjoyed the initial installment to steer clear of the often lower quality follow up. And even sequels that matched or exceeded the quality of the first film, such as Empire or Spidey 2, suffered because of this.

You see this changing with the focus on franchises in Hollywood today. Studio heads know that a crap sequel can prevent a third, fourth or fifth installment ever occurring. So it's less common for a studio to rush a follow up into theaters.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Frequently there is a delay effect on sequels in that good ones produce stronger openings for the following film (Spider-Man 3 in this case). This works in reverse too where often hyped movies that don't deliver do well and then the direct sequel (which might be better) does worse because the first one killed the hype.

But in addition to that there was one other significant factor: release date. 1 & 3 had the all-important first weekend in May. 2 was stuck at the end of June. Now that's a far cry from January, but it isn't first weekend in May either.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

Domestically, every Spider-man movie made less than the last. Until Homecoming reversed the trend.

SM1 - 403 m
SM2 - 373 m
SM3 - 336 m
ASM - 262 m
ASM2 - 202 m
HC - 334 m
FFH - 390 m

SM2 dropped because SM1 was a cultural phenomenon and was a national obsession for months. It would hard for any movie to surpass that.

SM3 dropped because it wasn't well recieved despite having a huge opening weekend.

ASM dropped because it was a divisive reboot.

ASM2 dropped because it was trash.

Homecoming reversed the trend because it had Iron Man and was the best Spidey movie since SM2. Audiences were back onboard.

Far From Home increased yet again because MCU was peaking in popularity.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

SM1 was the first superhero movie since Batman 89 to really capture the imagination of the general public. It would have been extremely difficult for any sequel to match it. Kind of like how Empire Strikes Back never stood a chance of outgrossing the original Star Wars. The bar was just too high.

 

[Frodo]

SM1 was certainly an event film .

It's hard for alot of younger fans today who are used to Billion dollar Superhero epics, Cinematic universes, and Superhero tv shows galore, to really appreciate the anticipation for the first ever Spiderman film .

 

[Herofan]

To me first Friday of May seems like a great time to release a superhero film, literally kicking off the summer movie season, July 4 weekend is also a good time but not quite as strong a launching point, a lot of competition already around or to be released soon vs. big competitors just going to be released some time later.

 

[Dominate426]

Domestically, every Spider-man movie made less than the last. Until Homecoming reversed the trend.

SM1 - 403 m
SM2 - 373 m
SM3 - 336 m
ASM - 262 m
ASM2 - 202 m
HC - 334 m
FFH - 390 m

SM2 dropped because SM1 was a cultural phenomenon and was a national obsession for months. It would hard for any movie to surpass that.

SM3 dropped because it wasn't well recieved despite having a huge opening weekend.

ASM dropped because it was a divisive reboot.

ASM2 dropped because it was trash.

Homecoming reversed the trend because it had Iron Man and was the best Spidey movie since SM2. Audiences were back onboard.

Far From Home increased yet again because MCU was peaking in popularity.

Spider-Man 3 made less because Pirates 3 and Shrek 3 also came out that same month. Despite that, Spider-Man 3 still ended up being the Highest Grossing Movie in the Domestic Box Office in 2007.

 

[Dominate426]

Spider-Man 2 was actually doing better than Spider-Man 1 until that 4th Weekend Drop slowed things down.

 

[spiderman2]

I would say spiderman 1 made a lot of what it did because it was coming after 9/11 and also superhero movies where not like has big then and it was the first time seeing spiderman on the big screen. Spiderman 3 made a lot of money because of the hype because of how good spiderman 2 was and how good spiderman 3 looked. If people knew spiderman 3 would end up being the way it was I am sure it would have made much less then it made.

 

[Venom75]

The original Spider-Man was greatly bolstered by the fact it was released a year after 9/11, as it provided for audiences a fun, colorful tone that served as nice escapism from the dire uncertainty of the times. Much like like how the original Star Wars was so popular because it came off the heels of the Vietnam war, and it provided audiences a feeling of jubilant escapism away from the darkness of the times. Spider-Man 2, while a great classic film, didn’t have the attractive hook to drive audiences this time around, the novelty of seeing Spider-Man on the big screen had worn off by then.

With Spider-Man 3, that attractive hook for audiences was the immense popularity of Venom, and how much hype there was seeing those two characters spar with each other in live-action for the very first time. Not to mention the cool and mysterious black suit Spider-Man which intrigued mainstream audiences, and played the factor in getting them curious about the movie. Spider-Man 2, didn’t really have either of those factors going for it and so it’s the least successful.

I feel the same way.

 

[DlAMONDZ]

Spidey 1 was lightning in a bottle and Spidey 3 benefitted from Spidey 2 being so good

I don't think people realize just how big Spidey 1 was sometimes. Spidey 1 is up there with the likes of Infinity War, Endgame and TDK as far as admissions go here in America

 

[TheVileOne]

Frequently there is a delay effect on sequels in that good ones produce stronger openings for the following film (Spider-Man 3 in this case). This works in reverse too where often hyped movies that don't deliver do well and then the direct sequel (which might be better) does worse because the first one killed the hype.

But in addition to that there was one other significant factor: release date. 1 & 3 had the all-important first weekend in May. 2 was stuck at the end of June. Now that's a far cry from January, but it isn't first weekend in May either.

I think it's primarily the release date timing of Spider-Man 2.

 

[KAW]

Domestically, every Spider-man movie made less than the last. Until Homecoming reversed the trend.

SM1 - 403 m
SM2 - 373 m
SM3 - 336 m
ASM - 262 m
ASM2 - 202 m
HC - 334 m
FFH - 390 m

SM2 dropped because SM1 was a cultural phenomenon and was a national obsession for months. It would hard for any movie to surpass that.

SM3 dropped because it wasn't well recieved despite having a huge opening weekend.

ASM dropped because it was a divisive reboot.

ASM2 dropped because it was trash.

Homecoming reversed the trend because it had Iron Man and was the best Spidey movie since SM2. Audiences were back onboard.

Far From Home increased yet again because MCU was peaking in popularity.

Ironically enough, I found all three of Sam Raimi's movies to be trash. He's a mediocre director at best. Not to mention, he copied the Superman movie verbatim with the first Spidey flick. Webb didn't fair so well either, but at least I liked the relationship between Peter/Gwen, can't say that about Peter/MJ in either of the other films. I personally don't even count the MCU Spider-Man movies as Spider-Man films, damn-near every character is unrecognizable to me. I can go on for days about Spider-Man/Peter being Iron Man's weak little dumb lackey, or Aunt May being 10 times hotter than MJ, not good. Perhaps SM2 made less than SM1, because people saw how much SM1 was lacking, after waiting decades to see it.

 

[Spider-Fan83]

I remember finding the first movie lackluster and didn't have a good experiences in the theater watching when it came out, so, when the second one came out I didn't really follow anything about it, and never saw it in theaters... only finally saw it much later once it was on TV , and found it better then the first movie...

enough so that, ironically is what inspired me to follow production on the 3rd, an that's when I first found/joined these forums

OB numbers mean very little to the quality of the movie

 

[Venom75]

I was shocked by this as well. The first one made so much for several reasons,the main one being that it was the first time seeing Spidey,in live action,on the big screen. And part 3 had the black suit and Venom,which most everyone was excited for. Personally,my excitement grew with every film. Although I was a Spidey fan since I was little,that first movie had me excited to go see it sure. But I wasn't really overly anticipating it. Then I saw it and it blew me away. And then when part 2's teaser trailer came out I must have watched that thing like 100 times. lol And then when I saw it I loved it so much that I couldn't wait for part 3. Then,when I found out that the black suit(and possibly)Venom would appear,my hype for the film went off the charts. I followed part 3 like a religion! I remember coming home from work every day and checking these boards to see if any news or images were released. It was such a fun time to se a Spider-man fan!