Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures Animation

Following an uneventful few weeks at the box office, two new films opened over the weekend with results that speak volumes about the future of big-screen storytelling – both positively and negatively.

Firstly, the positive: In the number one spot over the weekend was the audacious new animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which took in $35.4 million. Although it's a number far below what most Marvel Comics adaptations earn, it's still a significant haul considering movies are now directly competing with pre-Christmas plans. It's also a record for an animated opening in December.

With legions of rapturous reviews, people losing their minds on social media and a rare A+ CinemaScore rating from audiences, Spider-Verse is sure to demonstrate considerable box office legs over the holiday period. The wildly enthusiastic response to the film is an especially encouraging reception for a movie that breaks a lot of new ground in the world of comic-book adaptations.

In addition to being the biggest leap forward in superhero minority representation since Black Panther, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse takes fan service to a whole new level, embracing one of the nuttier stories in the Spidey pantheon to tell a phantasmagoric tale of multiple Spiders-Men (and women) from multiple dimensions.

The makers of the film credit their audience with the ability to follow the often dizzying tale, and it looks like that faith is paying off. If it encourages studios to be a little more ambitious with their iconic intellectual property holdings, then everybody benefits.

It also makes Disney/Lucasfilm look somewhat foolish for firing Phil Lord and Chris Miller from  Solo: A Star Wars Story midway through a production that began with them as writer/directors. Lord is one of two credited writers (alongside co-director Rodney Rothman) on Into the Spider-Verse, with Lord and Miller both receiving executive producer credits. Both are thought to have played a large role in shaping the creative approach of the film.

From the Jump Street films to The Lego Movie and beyond, Lord and Miller have always delighted in pushing the boundaries of mainstream storytelling — especially when it comes to beloved properties — and the audience always goes with them. Lord and Miller know where the line is, and that it's okay to cross over it. Their storytelling ambition is exactly what Solo needed to prevent it from being the perceived failure it ended up as.

The warm reception to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse shows that audiences will embrace new and weird takes on beloved icons. Bring on the Spider-Verse, indeed.

A much less encouraging reception met the new Peter Jackson-produced, would-be blockbuster franchise starter Mortal Engines, which opened in fifth place (behind the new Clint Eastwood film The Mule and holdovers The Grinch and Ralph Breaks the Internet) with a take of just $7.5 million. It's a shockingly low number for a film playing on more than 3,000 screens, and sends all the wrong signals to studios already skittish about investing in anything that isn't a well-established brand.

Mortal Engines is based on a book series, but not one that is particularly well-known. That means Universal relied upon Jackson's name to sell the blockbuster to a wide audience.

Jackson didn't direct the film himself, instead handing over megaphone duties to longtime protégé Christian Rivers, who made his debut with it. Jackson did, however, co-write and co-produce the film with his regular collaborators, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens.

But despite being presented as the latest epic from the people who brought us Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, the masses failed to show up, seemingly indicating once again that brand awareness is the most important thing in the land of the blockbuster.

The story around Mortal Engines is now one about it being the biggest flop of the year, which will no doubt discourage the studio gatekeepers from investing in similarly ambitious efforts unless they're an adaptation of a well-known property.

And even though the success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse shows that a familiar brand doesn't have to result    in bland storytelling, the box office failure of Mortal Engines will most likely only serve to narrow the pool of stories being told.