The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has finally kicked off its run at the North American box office, debuting last night with an estimated $8.7 million to start the weekend.

That’s not quite as much as Sony or analysts were expecting,  but there’s still a very good chance that the Marc Webb helmed sequel will earn between $85 million to $90 million this weekend, although that’s not quite as much a the expected $95+ million which would have seen it top Captain America: The Winter Soldier to have the highest opening weekend of 2014.

The Amazing Spider-Man opened with $62 million in 2012, but the key difference is that it opened on a Tuesday ahead of the July 4th holiday weekend. That movie earned $7.5 million at late night showings, but it was only shown at midnight; The Amazing Spider-Man 2 started screening at 7pm.

It’s believed that by the end of its run, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 will perform as well as the first movie (which grossed $752 million worldwide), or perhaps even better. We’ll have to wait and see!

Stay tuned to Spider-Man News for more box office updates this weekend!