List of accolades received by the 2002–2007 Spider-Man film series
The first film in the franchise, "Spider-Man", was released to US theaters on May 3, 2002. Its story follows Peter Parker (played by Tobey Maguire), a high-school student who turns to crime-fighting in New York, under the alias of Spider-Man, after developing spider-like powers. The film sees him develop friendships with Harry Osborn (James Franco) and his love interest, Mary Jane Watson (portrayed by Kirsten Dunst). "Spider-Man" was praised for staying faithful to the comic series and for being an enjoyable movie, with Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" finding the film to be "unusually good" for its genre. Raimi's 2002 release topped the box office with ticket revenue totaling to $114.8 million. By the end of its theatrical run, it had grossed over $820 million.
Superman
The first big-budget movie was "Superman" in 1978, starring Christopher Reeve and produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind. It was 143 minutes long and was made on a budget of $55 million (AFI $). It is the most successful Superman feature film to date in terms of box office revenue adjusted for inflation. The soundtrack was composed by John Williams and was nominated for an Academy Award; the title theme has become iconic. "Superman" (1978) was the first big-budget superhero movie, and its success arguably paved the way for later superhero movies like "Batman" (1989) and "Spider-Man" (2002). The 1978 movie spawned four sequels: "Superman II" (1980), "Superman III" (1983), "" (1987) and "Superman Returns" (2006); the last of which replaced Reeve with Brandon Routh.