2025 has providedSpider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Versewith an unexpected challenge thanks to theMarvelmovie’s newest release date. As the final film in the Spider-Verse trilogy,Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verseis one of the most hotly anticipated superhero movies of the next two years, especially since the first movie in the series was released almost 10 years before it.
The circumstances aroundSpider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse’s releasehave seen some considerable changes in the last few years. While this has been largely regarding the release date forthe Spider-Man moviebeing pushed back considerably, recent news has provided a different kind of challenge for the film.
Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse’s New Release Date Is Now Less Than A Week Away From Another Major Animated Movie
Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Versehas gone through a complicated set of events regarding its release date. The film was originally announced for a June 08, 2025 release date, but was then removed from Sony’s release slate altogether midway through 2023 - a move attributed to production delays and the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Following this,Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Versewas then announced to be releasing on June 09, 2025, before this was pushed back to its current release date of June 11, 2025. This is a notable date for many reasons, but the recent announcement of another film’s delay adds another to the roster.
As per Variety,Shrek 5’s release date has now been moved from August 11, 2025 to August 08, 2025. This means it releases only 5 days away fromSpider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse, and puts the two movies in far closer proximity than was ever previously expected.
While the two franchises have key differences, the two animated goliaths releasing so close to one another is striking, especially since the broad target audience for both has overlap. With this in mind, this announcement may provideSpider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse’s box office with a new challenge to face.
Why Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse & Shrek 5 Releasing The Same Time May Be A Challenge For Both Movies
Given the immense success and appeal of both franchises, it’s clear to see that there are plenty of people who would watch Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse andShrek 5if they were released with a window of time between them. However, it’s less clear whether audiences will be willing to see both within a week of each other.
For context,Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Versewill release on the final Friday of June, whereasShrek 5will release the next Wednesday. Without even a full week to separate the films, the matter of whether cinemagoers are interested in both films is thus a different scenario.
With this layout in mind, people may be put off going to the cinema twice in a row so close together, or from something like taking their children to see these films. This is both because of the financial costs, and the time costs of going to see a movie in theaters twice in a few days.
As such, it seems this decision may encourage some viewers to pick one of the two films to see as it comes out, and delay seeing the second. In an era where there’s often only a wait of a few months to watch a film on streaming platforms or digitally instead, this latter call has become increasingly tantalizing for many.
Altogether, this paints an interesting picture forSpider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse’s release - and one that makes the matter of its upcoming financial results more complicated. Mercifully, though, the histories of these two respective film franchises suggest this setup might not be as fraught as it could otherwise initially appear.
The Spider-Verse & Shrek’s History Suggests Both Can Overcome The 2027 Release Challenge
Shrek and the Spider-Verse’s last releases both landed around the $700 million region (via The Numbers). Inflation makes this perhaps more notable for the 2010Shrek Forever After, but the Spider-Verse films have garnered a similarly gargantuan fanbase over their run thus far, withSpider-Man: Across The Spider-Verseearning not far from double the first film’s worldwide box office.
Ultimately, while far bigger box office results have led to small sequel returns, the ardent appreciation the Spider-Verse movies have obtained suggests the trilogy’s last installment won’t fall flat simply because it has a direct competitor for its release window, even if this does ultimately end up impacting the final financial results for the film in some way.
Indeed, the circumstances around bothBeyond The Spider-Verseand the fifth Shrek movie suggest they can maintain the success of their franchises.Shrek 5is the franchise’s first mainline sequel since 2010, andSpider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verseis the finale of a beloved trilogy, which gives them unique selling points in terms of their box offices.
While the release of both films is still some ways off, so long as the respective franchises are able to maintain interest in their worlds, it’s unlikely eitherSpider-Man: Beyond The Spider-VerseorShrek 5will feel too strong an impact from their release proximity. That said, this setup should still make their respective results in 2027 even more fascinating.
