Spider-Man (2002 film)
Spider-Man is a 2002 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. Directed by Sam Raimi from a screenplay by David Koepp, it is the first installment in Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel Enterprises and Laura Ziskin Productions, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film stars Tobey Maguire as the titular character, alongside Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson, and Rosemary Harris. The film chronicles Spider-Man's origin story and early superhero career. After being bitten by a genetically altered spider, teenager Peter Parker develops spider-like superhuman abilities and adopts a masked superhero identity to fight crime in New York City, facing the sinister Green Goblin in the process.
Spider-Man
- Bob Murawski
- Arthur Coburn
- April 29, 2002 (Mann Village Theater)
- May 3, 2002 (United States)
121 minutes[3]
United States
English
$139 million[4]
$825.7 million[5]
Development on a live-action Spider-Man film began in 1975. Filmmakers Tobe Hooper, James Cameron, and Joseph Zito were all attached to direct the film at one point. However, the project would languish in development hell due to licensing and financial issues. After progress on the film stalled for nearly 25 years, it was licensed for a worldwide release by Columbia Pictures in 1999 after it acquired options from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) on all previous scripts developed by Cannon Films, Carolco, and New Cannon. Exercising its option on just two elements from the multi-script acquisition (a different screenplay was written by James Cameron, Ted Newsom, John Brancato, Barney Cohen, and Joseph Goldman), Sony hired Koepp to create a working screenplay (credited as Cameron's), and Koepp received sole credit in final billing. Directors Roland Emmerich, Ang Lee, Chris Columbus, Barry Sonnenfeld, Tim Burton, Michael Bay, Jan de Bont, M. Night Shyamalan, Tony Scott, and David Fincher were considered to direct the project before Raimi was hired as director in 2000. The Koepp script was rewritten by Scott Rosenberg during pre-production and received a dialogue polish from Alvin Sargent during production. Filming took place in Los Angeles and New York City from January to June 2001. Danny Elfman was hired to compose the film's score, while Sony Pictures Imageworks handled the film's visual effects.[6]
Spider-Man premiered at the Mann Village Theater on April 29, 2002, and was released in the United States on May 3. The film received positive reviews from critics and audiences, who praised Raimi's direction, the story, the performances, visual effects, action sequences, and musical score. It was the first film to reach $100 million in a single weekend, as well as the most successful film based on a comic book at the time. With a box office gross of over $825 million worldwide, it was the third highest-grossing film of 2002, the highest-grossing superhero film, and the sixth-highest-grossing film overall at the time of release. The film garnered nominations for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects at the 75th Academy Awards, among numerous other accolades. Spider-Man is credited for redefining the modern superhero genre, as well as the summer blockbuster.[7][8][9] After the movie's success, the film received two sequels, Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). Maguire and Dafoe later reprised their roles in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), which dealt with the concept of the multiverse and linked the Raimi trilogy to the MCU.
Plot[edit]
On a school trip, high school senior Peter Parker visits a Columbia University genetics laboratory with his friend Harry Osborn and his love interest Mary Jane Watson. There, Peter is bitten by a genetically engineered spider, and he falls ill upon returning home. Meanwhile, Harry's father Norman Osborn, a scientist and the founder and owner of Oscorp, tries securing an important military contract. He tests a performance-enhancing chemical on himself and goes insane, killing his assistant.
The next day, Peter develops spider-like abilities, superhuman strength, sharper senses, agility, speed, and the ability to cling to walls. Ignoring his Uncle Ben's advice that "with great power comes great responsibility", Peter considers buying a car to impress Mary Jane. Despite winning an underground wrestling event to pay for the car, Peter is cheated out of his earnings. After Ben is killed moments later by a thief that Peter allowed to escape, Peter pursues him, but the thief falls out of a window to his death. Meanwhile, a crazed Norman interrupts a test of an exoskeleton created by Oscorp's rival Quest Aerospace and destroys the exoskeleton, killing several people.
Upon graduating, Peter begins using his abilities to fight crime, donning a spandex costume and the masked persona of Spider-Man. J. Jonah Jameson, publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper, hires Peter as a freelance photographer, since he is the only person providing clear images of Spider-Man. Upon learning that Oscorp's board plans to oust him to sell the company to Quest, Norman assassinates them. Jameson names the mysterious killer the "Green Goblin."
The Goblin offers Peter a place at his side, but he refuses. They fight, and Peter is wounded. At Thanksgiving dinner, Peter's Aunt May invites Mary Jane, Harry, and Norman. During the dinner, Norman sees the injury and realizes Peter's identity. Believing the only way to defeat Peter is to attack those who are special to him, Norman later attacks and injures May. While visiting May at the local hospital, Mary Jane admits her infatuation with Spider-Man, who has rescued her on two occasions. Harry, who is dating Mary Jane, sees her holding Peter's hand and assumes she has feelings for him. Distraught, Harry tells his father that Peter loves Mary Jane, unknowingly revealing Spider-Man's biggest weakness.
Norman holds Mary Jane and a Roosevelt Island Tram car full of children hostage alongside the Queensboro Bridge. He forces Peter to choose whom he wants to save and drops them both. Peter saves both Mary Jane and the tram car and manages to lower them down to a nearby ferry for safety. An enraged Norman grabs Peter and throws him into the nearby Smallpox Hospital building and brutally beats him. When Norman brags about how he will kill Mary Jane, Peter gains the upper hand, and Norman reveals himself and begs for forgiveness while subtly getting his glider ready to impale Peter from behind. Warned by his spider-sense, Peter dodges the attack, and the glider mortally impales Norman instead. Norman begs Peter not to reveal his identity as the Goblin to Harry before dying. Peter takes Norman's body to the Osborn house and is confronted by Harry, who pulls a gun on him, but Peter escapes.
At Norman's funeral, Harry swears vengeance on Spider-Man, whom he falsely holds responsible for his father's death. Mary Jane confesses to Peter that she loves him. Peter, however, feels he must protect her from the attention of his enemies, so he hides his true feelings and tells Mary Jane that they can only be friends. As Peter leaves, he recalls Ben's words and accepts his new responsibility as Spider-Man.
J. K. Simmons portrays J. Jonah Jameson, the grouchy publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper who considers Spider-Man a criminal. Ron Perkins portrays Mendel Stromm, Osborn's head scientist, while Gerry Becker and Jack Betts play board members Maximillian Fargas and Henry Balkan. Stanley Anderson plays General Slocum and Jim Ward plays the Project Coordinator. John Paxton portrays Bernard Houseman, the butler to the Osborn family. Joe Manganiello portrays Parker's bully and rival Flash Thompson, while Sally Livingstone portrays Liz Allan.[14] Jason Padgett portrays Flash's Crony.[15] Bill Nunn, Ted Raimi and Elizabeth Banks portray Daily Bugle editor Robbie Robertson, Daily Bugle employees Ted Hoffman, and Jameson's secretary Betty Brant, respectively.[16][17] Michael Papajohn appears as "The Carjacker", the robber who kills Ben Parker.[18] Bruce Campbell, a long-time colleague of director Sam Raimi, cameoed as the announcer at the wrestling ring Parker takes part in. Raimi himself appeared off-screen, throwing popcorn at Parker as he enters the arena to wrestle Bonesaw McGraw (played by former professional wrestler "Macho Man" Randy Savage), while Jack Murdock (played by former professional wrestler Scott L. Schwartz) is carried off on a stretcher.[19] Spider-Man co-creator Stan Lee briefly appears in the film to grab a young girl from falling debris during the battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin at the World Unity Fair in Times Square.[20] Raimi originally thought Stan Lee doing a cameo in the film was a bad idea.[21]
Octavia Spencer appears as a staff member at Parker's wrestling match. Tig Notaro was offered the role by Raimi and auditioned, but lost it to Spencer.[22] R&B/soul singer Macy Gray appears as herself performing at the World Unity Fair.[23] Lucy Lawless also appears as a punk rock girl who says "Guy with eight hands... sounds hot."[24][25] She did the appearance as a favor to her husband, Xena: Warrior Princess creator Rob Tapert, on which Raimi had served as an executive producer alongside Tapert.[26] One of the stunt performers in this film is actor Johnny Tri Nguyen.[27] Kickboxer Benny "The Jet" Urquidez has an uncredited cameo as a mugger who attacks Mary Jane. Comedian Jim Norton shows up in one scene as a truck driver who has an unfavorable opinion of Spider-Man.[28] R.C. Everbeck was intended to play Eddie Brock, but his scenes were unreleased; Brock eventually appeared in Spider-Man 3, portrayed by Topher Grace.[29] Sara Ramirez appears as a police officer at Uncle Ben's death scene.[30] K. K. Dodds plays Simkins, Scott Spiegel plays a Marine Cop, while Larry Joshua plays a promoter who cheats Parker out of his winnings. Hugh Jackman, who played Logan / Wolverine in Fox's X-Men film series was planned to have a cameo appearance as the character, with Jackman even arriving in New York to shoot the scene, only for it to be scrapped after the production team realized they did not have the character's suit.[31]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
Spider-Man became the first film to pass the $100 million mark in a single weekend, even when adjusting for inflation, with its $114,844,116[178] gross establishing a new opening weekend record.[179][180] The gross surpassed the previous record holder's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $90.3 million opening; on this, Rick Lyman of The New York Times wrote "while industry executives had expected a strong opening for the film because there was little competition in the marketplace and prerelease polling indicated intense interest from all age groups, no one predicted that Spider-Man would surpass the Harry Potter record."[180] Starting with Twister in 1996, the benefits of bowing in May had been first fully exploited with its $41 million opening weekend.[181] Following comparable debuts of Deep Impact in 1998 and The Mummy in 1999, the frame was taken to the next level in 2001 with the release of The Mummy Returns. Spider-Man had not only made history for a summer starter film, but for weekends as well.[181] It surpassed The Lost World: Jurassic Park to have the largest May opening weekend.[182] When the film was released, it was ranked number one at the box office, beating The Scorpion King.[183] The film also broke X-Men's record for having the highest opening weekend for a superhero film.[179]
The film also set a record for crossing the $100 million milestone in three days, at the time being the fastest any film had reached the mark.[184] This opening weekend haul had an average of $31,769 per theater, which at the time, Box Office Mojo reported as being "the highest per theater average ever for an ultra-wide release."[179] The film's three-day record was surpassed by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest four years later.[185] The $114.8 million opening weekend was the highest at the North America box office film for a non-sequel, until it was surpassed eight years later by Alice in Wonderland.[186] Spider-Man would hold the record for having the highest-three day gross until it was surpassed by Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith in 2005.[187] Within four days, it had the biggest non-holiday Monday of all time with $11 million, increasing the total gross to $125.1 million and staying ahead of recent blockbusters, including Charlie's Angels and Erin Brockovich.[188]
With the film's release in the United States and Canada on May 3, 2002, on 7,500 screens at 3,615 theaters,[180] the film earned $39,406,872 on its opening day, averaging $10,901 per theater.[189] This was the highest opening day at the time until it was surpassed by its sequel Spider-Man 2's $40.4 million haul in 2004.[190] For three years, the film would hold the record for having the highest Friday gross until 2005 when it was overtaken by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.[191] Upon its opening, it had the third-highest number of screenings of any film, behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Mission: Impossible 2.[179] Spider-Man also set an all-time record for the highest earnings in a single day with $43,622,264 on its second day of release,[179][189] a record later surpassed by Shrek 2 in 2004.[192] On the Sunday during its opening weekend, the film earned an additional $31,814,980,[189] the highest gross a film took in on a Sunday, at the time.[179]
The film stayed at the top position in its second weekend ahead of Unfaithful and The New Guy, dropping only 38% and grossing another $71,417,527,[193] while averaging $19,755.89 per theater. At the time, this was the highest-grossing second weekend of any film.[193] During its second weekend, the film reached the $200 million mark on its ninth day of release, also a record at the time.[193] This made it the fastest film to cross the $200 million mark, surpassing Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.[194] At the end of its second weekend, the film brought in a 10-day total of $223,040,031.[193] It quickly surpassed Ice Age to become the highest-grossing film of the year.[193] Spider-Man had crossed over 149 spots on the top-grossing film chart, landing in 29th place between Rush Hour 2 and Mrs. Doubtfire while excelling past the final tallies of other films, including Batman Forever, Mission: Impossible 2 and The Mummy Returns.[193]
The film dropped to the second position in its third weekend, behind Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, but still made $45,036,912, dropping only 37%, averaging $12,458 per theater, and bringing the 17-day tally to $285,573,668.[195] Its third weekend haul set the record for highest-grossing third weekend, which was first surpassed by Avatar (2009).[196] Spider-Man would beat another record that was previously held by The Phantom Menace, becoming the quickest film to hit $300 million in just 22 days.[197] It stayed at the second position in its fourth weekend, grossing $35,814,844 over the four-day Memorial Day frame, dropping only 21% while expanding to 3,876 theaters, averaging $9,240 over four days, and bringing the 25-day gross to $333,641,492.[198] Within 66 days, it was the fastest film to approach $400 million, tying its record with Titanic.[199] Both films held this record for two years before being surpassed by Shrek 2.[200]
At the box office, Spider-Man became 2002's highest-grossing film with $407,022,860 in the U.S. and Canada, defeating The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Attack of the Clones.[201] As of 2021, Spider-Man ranks as the 37th-highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. and Canada, not adjusted for inflation. The film also grossed $418,002,176 from its international markets, bringing its worldwide total to $825,025,036[202] making it 2002's third-highest-grossing film behind The Two Towers and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the 58th-highest-grossing film of all time, worldwide.[203] Additionally, it was the highest-grossing Sony film of all time, beating out Men in Black.[204][205] Spider-Man also dethroned Batman's record for becoming the highest-grossing superhero film of all time.[204][206] The film sold an estimated 69,484,700 tickets in the US.[202] It held the record for most tickets sold by a comic book movie until The Dark Knight topped it in 2008. As of 2020, it is still the sixth highest grossing comic book movie of all time adjusted for inflation. Only Avengers: Infinity War, The Dark Knight, Black Panther, The Avengers and Avengers: Endgame have sold more tickets than Spider-Man. Spider-Man was the highest-grossing superhero origin film, a record it held for 15 years until it was surpassed by Wonder Woman (2017).[207][208] As of 2020, it is the 12th-highest-grossing superhero film, as well as the 12th-highest-grossing comic book adaptation in general.[209][210][211]
Internationally, Spider-Man opened in 17 territories in its first week, earning a total of $13.3 million. It scored the second-highest opening in Iceland, Singapore and South Korea. Plus, Russia and Yugoslavia had the third best all time film opening.[212] Spider-Man would score the biggest opening in Switzerland with $1.4 million and 160,000 admissions from 106 screens, surpassing The World Is Not Enough. As for Germany, it had the strongest June opening and the third best debut of any movie, behind Attack of the Clones and Ice Age. Its opening screenings in France were a massive 10,645 admissions from 27 screens, beating out the French film Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.[213] Additionally, it set the highest opening gross in Spain.[214] Meanwhile, Spider-Man would go on to unleash new opening records in the UK during the 2002 FIFA World Cup soccer game. The film made $13.9 million from 509 screens, making it the country's fifth biggest movie opening, trailing only behind Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, The Phantom Menace, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Attack of the Clones. In addition, Spider-Man had the largest opening of any film in the UK with a BBFC certificate higher than a "PG" rating, staying ahead of Independence Day and Hannibal. Despite lunch matches, it still led the weekend box office to a bigger 110% week-to-week increase and a 130% year-on-year increase when Pearl Harbor led the chart during its third week.[215] It was the country's number one film for three weeks until it was displaced by Minority Report.[216] In India, the film was simultaneously released in English and three different languages across 250 screens, becoming the widest reach and return for a Hollywood title since The Mummy Returns in 2001. It was even Sony's first major release in the country since Godzilla in 1998.[217] The total number of international markets that generated grosses in excess of $10 million include Australia ($16.9 million), Brazil ($17.4 million), France, Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia ($32.9 million), Germany ($30.7 million), Italy ($20.8 million), Japan ($56.2 million), Mexico ($31.2 million), South Korea ($16.98 million), Spain ($23.7 million), and the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($45.8 million).[218]
Spider-Man became the highest-grossing superhero film of all time at the time of its release, both domestically and worldwide while surpassing Batman.[204] Its domestic gross was eventually topped by The Dark Knight (2008). Its worldwide gross was first surpassed by Spider-Man 3 (2007).
The film also held the record as Sony's highest-grossing film domestically until 2018, when it was finally surpassed by Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ($404.5 million).[219][220]
Critical response[edit]
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 90% of 249 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Not only does Spider-Man provide a good dose of web-swinging fun, it also has a heart, thanks to the combined charms of director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire."[221] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 73 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[222] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.[223]
The casting, mainly Maguire, Dafoe and Simmons, is often cited as one of the film's high points. Eric Harrison, of the Houston Chronicle, was initially skeptical of the casting of Maguire, but after seeing the film he stated, "it becomes difficult to imagine anyone else in the role."[224] USA Today critic Mike Clark believed the casting rivaled that of Christopher Reeve as 1978's Superman.[225] Owen Gleiberman, of Entertainment Weekly, had mixed feelings about the casting, particularly Tobey Maguire. "Maguire, winning as he is, never quite gets the chance to bring the two sides of Spidey—the boy and the man, the romantic and the avenger—together."[226] The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt thought: "the filmmakers' imaginations work in overdrive from the clever design of the cobwebby opening credits and Spider-Man and M.J.'s upside down kiss—after one of his many rescues of her—to a finale that leaves character relationships open ended for future adventures."[227]
LA Weekly's Manohla Dargis wrote, "It isn't that Spider-Man is inherently unsuited for live-action translation; it's just that he's not particularly interesting or, well, animated."[228] Giving it two and a half stars out of four, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times felt that the film lacked a decent action element: "Consider the scene where Spider-Man is given a cruel choice between saving Mary Jane or a cable car full of school kids. He tries to save both, so that everyone dangles from webbing that seems about to pull loose. The visuals here could have given an impression of the enormous weights and tensions involved, but instead the scene seems more like a bloodless storyboard of the idea."[229]
Stylistically, there was heavy criticism of the Green Goblin's costume, which led IGN's Richard George to comment years later: "We're not saying the comic book costume is exactly thrilling, but the Goblin armor (the helmet in particular) from Spider-Man is almost comically bad... Not only is it not frightening, it prohibits expression."[230]
Entertainment Weekly put "the kiss in Spider-Man" on its end-of-the-decade "best-of" list, saying: "There's a fine line between romantic and corny. And the rain-soaked smooch between Spider-Man and Mary Jane from 2002 tap-dances right on that line. The reason it works? Even if she suspects he's Peter Parker, she doesn't try to find out. And that's sexy."[231]
Empire magazine ranked Spider-Man 437 in its 500 Greatest Movies of All Time list in 2008.[232]