In a stunning debut, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has swung into theatres with a stellar domestic box office opening of $120.5 million and a total of $208.6 million worldwide.

The highly anticipated animated sequel surpassed expectations, securing the second-biggest opening weekend of the year, trailing only The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which amassed $146 million domestically and claimed the third-highest opening weekend for any “Spider-Man” film.

Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse garnered a lot of goodwill from its prequel, the Oscar-winning 2018 film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The film started with a modest $35.5 million but went on to earn $384 million globally during its theatrical run.

David A. Gross, the head of Franchise Entertainment Research, a movie consulting firm said, “This is an exceptionally good opening for an animation follow-up sequel; Spider-Verse’ took a well-liked superhero, gave the storytelling an original visual style and voice and created a unique experience.”

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, the PG-rated Across the Spider-Verse carries a production cost of $100 million and follows the adventures of Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, also known as Spider-Woman, as they strive to rescue their fellow Spider-People from the clutches of the villain known as the Spot.

The voice cast includes returning actors Shameik Moore and Hailee Steinfeld as Miles and Gwen, respectively, along with Brian Tyree Henry, Issa Rae, Jason Schwartzman, Daniel Kaluuya, and Oscar Isaac.

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