Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man is Part of the Reason Why Arguably the Best Harry Potter Movie Earned the Least Money in Daniel Radcliffe’s $9.5 Billion Worth Franchise
Despite being arguably the best Spider-Man in live-action, Tobey Maguire’s scene-stealing trilogy directed by Sam Raimi has been overshadowed by the passage of time and the advent of younger recreations of the same IP. MCU’s overarching reach across all demographics and their smart choice to cast a teenage Spider-Man in line with the comics also helped earn extra favors for Tom Holland’s reiteration of the superhero.
Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 2 [Credit: Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures]
However, the impact of Tobey Maguire’s role can neither be ignored nor nullified. The Sam Raimi trilogy not only helped modernize the superhero genre in the 21st-century setting but also made the wall-crawler a household name. If Spider-Man was not already popular among the modern audience, the Raimi-Maguire films definitely turned that around for the moviegoers of the time.
Spider-Man Goes Up Against Harry Potter
Of all the Spider-Man antagonists, Harry Potter would never be one that the wall-crawler would need to worry about due to their wildly separate cinematic universes. However, in the real world, matters are usually far more complicated, primarily when it comes to franchises and box office earnings.
Spider-Man 2 (2004) [Credit: Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures]
Despite Sam Raimi‘s critically acclaimed follow-up to the first film, compounded with the famous train-stopping sequence, there was no arguing that the film’s timing presented a difficult scenario for all the blockbusters that accompanied it in the theaters.
RELATED20 Years of Spider-Man 2: After Dissing the Spider-Man Kiss, Kirsten Dunst Refused Doing a Scene With Tobey Maguire She Found “Terrifying” – “Never doing it again”
In 2004, the Spider-Man sequel went up against Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban as the former released a mere 3 weeks after the latter. Their close release schedules also effectively cut short Harry Potter‘s revenue stream as audiences flocked to see Tobey Maguire in action after his debut in the 2002 film.
Prisoner of Azkaban Fails to Top Tobey Maguire
While not necessarily one of the brighter films, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is definitely a serious step up from its previous 2 entries in terms of the tone and premise of its plot. Gary Oldman‘s arrival in the franchise also marked a serious deviation from the books as the third Harry Potter film took more liberties with its cinematic adaptation than its predecessors.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures]
The movie’s mature and darker tone further helped establish a wider adult fan base for the franchise. With a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Prisoner of Azkaban is the second-most critically successful film of the franchise after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. Despite such praise, the film remains the lowest-grossing Harry Potter movie in the entire franchise. And Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 2 effectively contributed to that outcome.
Reddit user, Chinny007, went so far as to draw up a detailed explanation behind the poor box office performance of the Daniel Radcliffe film, claiming:
It released 2 weeks after Shrek 2 and 3 weeks before Spider-Man 2. It definitely affected its legs.
Also POA is tonally very different from the first 2 movies. It was dark and serious. The first 2 movies are fun and magical. Even during serious situations you know your beloved characters are going to be fine and nothing bad is gonna happen to them. Kids and family audience loved them. But in POA the things felt serious. You understand why Wizarding World fears Voldemort.
RELATEDHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: Draco Malfoy’s Boggart Fan Theory Makes Tom Felton’s Character Even More Traumatic Than Fans Thought
Although there can be no possibility of knowing how Prisoner of Azkaban would have fared if not blocked on both ends by Shrek 2 and Spider-Man 2, it still remains one of the best films in Daniel Radcliffe’s $9.5 billion franchise. With Warner Bros. now sanctioning the reboot of the franchise as a series, perhaps the third book can finally find another chance at redemption in the public eye.
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is streaming on Max and Spider-Man 2 is streaming on Disney+.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
Welcome to Billionaire Club Co LLC, your gateway to a brand-new social media experience! Sign up today and dive into over 10,000 fresh daily articles and videos curated just for your enjoyment. Enjoy the ad free experience, unlimited content interactions, and get that coveted blue check verification—all for just $1 a month!
Account Frozen
Your account is frozen. You can still view content but cannot interact with it.
Please go to your settings to update your account status.
Open Profile Settings