Sony Bought Spider-Man For $7 Million - Here's How Much His Movies Have Made Since
Sony paid pennies for the rights to Spider-Man when one considers the impressive financial receipts the web-slinger has brought in for the studio. In 1999, Marvel unknowingly made one of the biggest mistakes: selling the rights to its flagship character to Sony Pictures for a mere $7 million. For the iconic comic house, the $7 million was a decent haul, as just three years prior, they had filed for bankruptcy. The studio quickly got to work, tying down horror director Sam Raimi to debut "Spider-Man" in 2002 to both critical and commercial acclaim. Starring Tobey Maguire, the film grossed $821 million worldwide, becoming the first film to gross $100 million during its debut weekend.
Two sequels were released, both of which were just as successful. Since then, "Spider-Man" has been a constant presence in cinemas, thanks in part to one reboot, a strategic partnership with Marvel Studios, and a slate of Oscar-nominated animated films. To date, there have been ten mainline "Spider-Man" films across three trilogies, with their box office hauls being north of $8.9 billion. Based purely on box office receipts, that's a return on investment of more than 127042%.
But box office numbers never equates to profit, as studios have to account for back-end dealings, marketing expenses, and several other factors. Ultimately, it's impossible to know how much Sony Pictures made from "Spider-Man" but those box office numbers are public information, suggesting that the average "Spidey" film rakes in $814 million for the studio — not bad for a $7 million initial investment.
Breaking down Spider-Man's profits
Before diving deep into Sony's success, it's important to acknowledge that the company no longer owns the rights to Spidey's merchandise, selling it back to Marvel in 2011. In terms of how much the Sam Raimi-led films made at the box office, those figures are over $2.5 billion — the films cost under $600 million based on their reported production budget. This doesn't account for marketing and other expenses. Seeing as the studio paid $7 million for the rights, they probably made their money back with the release of Tobey Maguire's first "Spider-Man."
With Maguire and Raimi's era done, the studio greenlit a reboot with Marc Webb in the director's chair and Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker. The two "Amazing Spider-Man" films made $1.4 billion together, with budgets of $420 million. "The Amazing Spider-Man 2" generated around $70 million in profit for the studio. Webb's films notably weren't as successful, critically and financially, as previous entries, compelling Sony Pictures to team up with Marvel Studios for Tom Holland's take.
Sony and Disney's deal has been revised, but the initial terms saw the House of Mouse only receiving 5% of the first dollar gross for the solo "Spider-Man" films set in the MCU. The "Home" trilogy set in the MCU grossed nearly $4 billion, making it the most profitable live-action Spidey franchise. In 2017, "Homecoming" made north of $200 million in profit, while "Far From Home" brought in some $339 million. "No Way Home," the last theatrical "Spidey" entry, is said to have made $610 million. These numbers are inspiring considering Sony wasn't immediately sold on Holland as Spider-Man.
The expanding Spider-Man universe is a cash cow
When Sony spent $7 million, they also got the rights to several Spider-Man adjacent characters like Venom, Kraven the Hunter, and Madame Web. All in all, the studio has the rights to some 900 characters, which they've put to good use. Sony has launched their own "Spider-Man" universe, consisting of flicks like Tom Hardy's "Venom" duology, "Morbius," and "Madame Web."
The "Venom" films have been the most profitable, grossing over $1.3 billion on a franchise budget north of $220 million. The first "Venom" led to around $247 million in profit, a healthy chunk of change for a spin-off without Spider-Man. "Morbius" and "Madame Web," however, didn't fare as well at the box office. Jared Leto's vampire flick made $162 million at the box office on a budget of $75 million. On the other hand, "Madame Web" bombed at the box office, grossing just shy of $100 million on a budget of $80 million — emerging as a loss for the studio. Overall, Sony's live-action "Spider-Man" spin-offs have been mostly viable, though it remains to be seen how "Kraven the Hunter" does.
Beyond live-action, Sony has leaned heavily into the world of animation, debuting the critically acclaimed "Spider-Verse" films. The first flick in the franchise grossed $375 million worldwide on a budget of $90 million. In 2023, "Across the Spider-Verse," which blew everyone away at the box office, made a whopping $681 million on a budget of $100 million.
While Sony's main slate of "Spider-Man" films has been prosperous, the series continues to boast profits outside of Peter Parker, making the franchise one of cinema's biggest juggernauts.