James Franco, Jay Rodan and Scott Speedman were involved in screen tests for the part. Joe Manganiello auditioned, but was cast as the bully Flash Thompson instead.
Tobey Maguire was Raimi's first choice for Peter Parker after he saw him in The Cider House Rules (1999). The studio was initially hesitant to cast someone who did not seem like a "adrenaline-pumping, tail-kicking titan", but Maguire impressed studio executives with his audition. He was cast in the role in July 2000, and signed a deal in the range of $3 to $4million with higher salary options for two sequels. He studied spiders and learned how to perform arachnid-like movements.
Nicolas Cage, Jason Isaacs, John Malkovich and Billy Bob Thornton were considered for the role of Norman Osborn / Green Goblin, but all turned it down. Cage spoke with Raimi about the part, but ultimately chose to join Spike Jonze as part of his cast for Adaptation (2002) because he personally felt it was the right choice for him at that time. Billy Crudup also turned down the role in favor of Almost Famous (2000). Willem Dafoe was selected for the part in November 2000. He was intrigued by the prospect of working with Raimi and by the idea of a film based on comics. He insisted on wearing the Green Goblin costume himself, as he felt that a stuntman would not convey the character's necessary body language. The 580-piece suit took half an hour to put on. Alicia Witt was considered for the role, and Kate Hudson was offered the part but turned it down to star in The Four Feathers (2002) instead. Elizabeth Banks auditioned, but at 28 she was deemed too old, despite being only sixteen months older than Maguire. Banks was cast as Jameson's secretary Betty Brant instead, and 18-year-old Kirsten Dunst was cast as Mary Jane a month before filming began. On its third day, Spider-Man earned $31.8 million, the highest gross at the time for a Sunday.
Spider-Man remained at the top of the box office in its second weekend, dropping 38% and grossing another $71.4 million while averaging $19,756 per theater; this was the highest-grossing second weekend for any film at the time. Spider-Man reached $200million on its ninth day of release, making it the fastest film to cross this mark, surpassing Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999). At the end of its second weekend, the film had earned a 10-day total of $223 million, and it quickly surpassed Ice Age to become the highest-grossing film of the year. Its third weekend haul set the record for highest-grossing third weekend, which was first surpassed by Avatar in 2009. 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. It stayed at the second position in its fourth weekend, grossing $35.8 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, dropping only 21% while expanding to 3,876 theaters, averaging $9,240 over four days, and bringing the 25-day gross to $333.6 million. Within 66 days, Spider-Man reached a total gross of $400 million.
Spider-Man became 2002's highest-grossing film with $407.8 million in the US and Canada, surpassing The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and Attack of the Clones. As of 2024, Spider-Man ranks as the 77th-highest-grossing film of all time in the US and Canada, not adjusted for inflation. The film sold an estimated 69.5 million tickets in the US.
Outside the US and Canada, Spider-Man opened in 17 territories in its first week, earning a total of $13.3 million. It set a record for the highest opening gross in Spain and Switzerland; the second-highest opening in Iceland, Singapore and South Korea; and the third-highest opening in Russia, Germany and Yugoslavia. In the United Kingdom, Spider-Man made $13.9 million from 509 screens in its first week, making it the country's fifth biggest opening. It stayed at number one for three weeks, until it was displaced by Minority Report. In India, Spider-Man was Sony's first major release since Godzilla in 1998. It was simultaneously released in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu across 250 screens, becoming the widest reach and return for a Hollywood film since The Mummy Returns (2001). The international markets that generated grosses in excess of $10million include Australia ($16.9million), Brazil ($17.4million), Germany ($30.7million), Italy ($20.8million), Japan ($56.2million), Mexico ($31.2million), South Korea ($16.98million), Spain ($23.7million), and the multi-nation markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($45.8million), and France, Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia ($32.9million).
Outside the US and Canada, Spider-Man grossed $418 million and was the third-highest-grossing film of 2002, behind The Two Towers and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Worldwide, the film's gross was now $825.8 million, making it the 58th-highest-grossing film of all time. Spider-Man also set records for the highest-grossing Sony film and the highest-grossing superhero film, surpassing Men in Black (1997) and Batman (1989) respectively.
Spider-Man was re-released in theaters on April 15, 2024, as part of Columbia Pictures' 100th anniversary celebration. It was re-released again on September 26, 2025 as part of a collaboration between Sony and Fathom Events. An encore screening followed on October 3, 2025.
Ratings in the United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, Spider-Man was given a "12" rating, meaning that no child under the age of 12 could see the film in a theater. In applying the rating, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) claimed that the film depicted strong violence as an appropriate solution to problems. Some local councils, pressured by cinema operators, changed the rating in their jurisdictions so that younger children could see the film. John Wilkinson, chairman of the Cinema Exhibitors' Association, said that theaters wanted a lower rating to avoid complaints from parents of young children who wanted to see Spider-Man. In late August, the BBFC changed the "12" rating to "12A", meaning children under 12 could watch a film if accompanied by an adult. Following the change, Sony re-released Spider-Man with the 12A rating.
Home media
Spider-Man was released on VHS and DVD on November 1, 2002, in North America and Australia, and on November 25, 2002, in the United Kingdom. Sony spent over $100 million marketing the DVD, which sold over 7 million copies on its first day of release, surpassing Monsters, Inc. (2001) to set a record for the highest single-day DVD sales. Although Finding Nemo (2003) would break the single-day record, Spider-Man still holds the record for the most DVD sales in one day for a live-action film as of 2022. Spider-Man was also the second-highest-selling DVD of 2002, after The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001). By July 2004, the film's U.S. DVD revenue was $338.8million, while its U.S. VHS revenue was $89.2million. The film's two-disc DVD release comes in separate widescreen (1.85:1 aspect ratio) and fullscreen (1.33:1 aspect ratio) versions. Bonus features include commentaries, promotional material, and behind-the-scenes featurettes.
The film's US television rights (Fox, TBS/TNT) were sold for $60million, and sales of licensed toys related to the film have surpassed $109million. By 2006, Spider-Man had a total gross of from box office and home video (sales and rentals), with a further from television (pay-per-view, broadcast TV and cable TV).
Spider-Man was first released on Blu-ray in 2007 as part of the Spider-Man Trilogy. It had standalone Blu-ray releases in 2010 and 2011. In 2017, the film was included in the Spider-Man Legacy Collection, a set of five Spider-Man films on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray. Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy was released on Disney+ on April 21, 2023.
Reception
Critical response
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Eric Harrison of the Houston Chronicle called the film "a nimble, spirited tale that adroitly captures the flavor of Spider-Man comics" but gets weighed down by "the lugubrious trappings of big-budget fantasy movies." He praised Maguire's casting, saying it was difficult to imagine anyone else in the role. Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly described Spider-Man as exciting but campy. He felt that Maguire gave a "winning" performance, but was unable "to bring the two sides of Spidey—the boy and the man, the romantic and the avenger—together." Mike Clark of USA Today lauded the film's casting, action sequences and production value. In his review for The Wall Street Journal, Joe Morgenstern applauded Maguire's performance but criticized the "strident intensity" of Dafoe, claiming that he delivered a poor villain compared to Gene Hackman in Superman and Jack Nicholson in Batman. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter praised the creativity of the opening credits and the upside-down kiss scene. Several reviewers felt that Spider-Man was not as good as Raimi's 1990 film Darkman.