Sony’s Most Exciting Spider-Man Movie Now Faces a Massive Challenge

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The film’s delay will push Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse further into the summer movie season, a move that makes sense with the movie-going surge during the hot summer months due to school being out and families flocking to theaters. But it also means the film will premiere just five days before another major release, Shrek 5, which brings back Mike Myers as the beloved towering green ogre alongside Eddie Murphy’s Donkey and Cameron Diaz’s Princess Fiona.

Dreamworks / Sony Pictures Animation

The Universal and DreamWorks Animation film’s original December 2026 release date was pushed back to June 30, 2027, just days after the new Spider-Verse film’s debut. Both movies are among the most hotly anticipated films on the horizon and are sure to be large draws for theater-going crowds, with their respective built-in fanbases and overlapping target audiences poised to bring one of the fiercest box office rivalries since Barbie and Oppenheimer released on the same day in July 2023.

Combined with Across the Spider-Verse’s cliffhanger ending, which has kept fans guessing for over two years now (at the time of writing this), and the film series’ box office track record, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is guaranteed to sell tickets. Into the Spider-Verse was released against a theatrical lineup that included films like Mortal Engines, Mary Poppins Returns, and Bumblebee, and managed to top the box office in its opening weekend in December 2018, earning an estimated $35 million domestically. The movie has since grossed $393.6 million worldwide on a reported $90 million budget and holds an impressive 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Across the Spider-Verse was just as successful, pulling in $690.5 million worldwide and a 95% fresh critics’ score.

Shrek 5 will serve as the first main installment in the franchise since 2010’s Shrek Forever (the most recent franchise installment came in 2022’s spinoff Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), meaning that there has been a long wait for a new entry into the franchise, something that will certainly build hype for the movie. Similar to the Spider-Verse films, the Shrek franchise is also a proven box office success, and the three most recent titles in the franchise have all grossed over $750 million worldwide. The original was also a hit, earning $484.94 million worldwide.

Given that both franchises have proven to be incredibly successful, moviegoers will be eager to see both in theaters, but it’s less likely that they’ll see both in the same week, given the rising cost of movie tickets. The two movies also appeal to a shared Millennial and Gen Z audience, further complicating this box office challenge. Since we’re still more than a year out from their respective June 2027 releases, and with both movies’ release dates having already been pushed back, it’s possible either film could change dates again to avoid fierce box office competition. Or, they could shoot for another shared cultural moment, like “Barbenheimer” before them.

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse stars Shameik Moore as the voice of Miles. The cast also features Hailee Steinfeld, Jason Schwartzman, Karan Soni, and Daniel Kaluuya. It is set to premiere in theaters on June 25, 2027. The first two Spider-Verse movies are available to stream on Hulu.