If You Invested $1,000 In Sony Stock When The 'Spider-Man' Movie Was Released In 2002, Here's How Much You'd Have Now

The Spider-Man franchise has been one of the most successful superhero franchises of all time, with a series of 10 movies grossing more than $6 billion globally since 2002.

Here’s a look at how Sony’s stock has performed since the 2002 movie was released.

What Happened: The Spider-Man movies are released by Sony Group Corp (NYSE: SONY), which obtained the movie rights to the Marvel character prior to the acquisition of the comic book company by Disney. 

The two newly released Spider-Man movies are part of a licensing agreement with Walt Disney Co (NYSE: DIS), owner of the Marvel brand.

“Spider-Man” had an opening domestic box office of $139 million when it was released May 3, 2002. The movie went on to gross $403.7 million domestically and $418 million internationally for a total box office of $821.7 million.

The movie was the highest-grossing superhero movie at the time of its release and one of the top three releases of the year according to global box office.

The box office of “Spider-Man” helped the financial performance of parent company Sony, which could have made the stock attractive to investors leading up to the release and after.

Related Link: Disney Reportedly Considering Purchase Of Spider-Man Rights Or Film Division From Sony: What Investors Should Know 

Investing $1,000 in Sony: A hypothetical $1,000 investment in Sony shares on May 3, 2002, could have bought 18.45 shares of the stock, based on a high price of $54.20 on the day.

That $1,000 investment would be worth $2,225.25 today, based on a share price of $120.61 for Sony.

This represents an average annual return of around 6.4% for the Sony investment from 19 years ago.

What’s Next: “Spider-Man: Far From Home” saw huge demand when tickets went on sale, leading to a crash of movie ticket sites including those of movie theater operators like AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc (NYSE: AMC) and Cinemark Holdings Inc. (NYSE: CNK).

The day after the U.S. premiere of "Spider-Man: Far From Home," Sony shares are down 0.49% at $121.61, but are near its 52-week high of $126, as of publication Friday morning. 

Photo: "Spider-Man" starring Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst, 2002, via IMDb.