BREAKING: The Spider-Man Musical Is Finally Making Money

?Well, kind of. The musical is still several million dollars in the hole, but for the first time since the premiere last year, Turn Off the Dark is making more than its weekly operating costs. From the NY Times:

One year after naysayers were predicting a quick death, the musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark”
is doubling down on Broadway, forgoing potentially lucrative overseas
tours in the near term to try to refine the New York production and
burnish the long-term value of the show.

In an interview to mark the Monday anniversary of the production’s first, fumbling preview performance,
the producers of “Spider-Man” said they were considering new plans for
recouping the show’s record-setting $75 million capitalization. The most
unusual idea: adding new scenes and perhaps a new musical number to the
New York “Spider-Man” every year, making it akin to a new comic book
edition, and then urging the show’s fans to buy tickets again.
…
Weekly running costs alone for “Spider-Man” total $1 million or more, by
far the highest amount on Broadway, while its net income has ranged
recently from $100,000 to $300,000 a week. At that rate the show would
need to play on Broadway at least five more years — and possibly quite a
bit longer — to pay off debts, a run very few shows achieve.

That’s actually not a bad idea. It’s an incredibly mercantile idea, sure, but what are you gonna do? The show is millions in debt. They need mercantile ideas. And while I’m disappointed that Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark seems to have finally run out of schadenfreude to give us, imagining Julie Taymor and the rest of the Sinister Six sitting around the table cursing the musical’s success is a fine substitute. Thanks to Jake G. for the tip.