Spider-Man 3 broke box-office records
Spider-Man 3 cost at least $260 million, but its opening success suggests that the expense was justified.
May 7, 2007
LOS ANGELES, May 6 In Hollywood
summer is supposed to open with a box-office bang, and if all goes well
keep on popping through the next three months.
Box Office records are broken on the opening day and the weekend, domestically and internationally for "Spider-Man 3"
the latest in the blockbuster series starring Tobey Maguire,
this set an exuberant tone for Hollywoodâs summer season.
The movie, directed by Sam Raimi,
took in an estimated $148 million in domestic ticket sales in its
opening weekend, including $59 million when it opened on Friday,
according to box-office tracking companies like Screenline and Media by
Numbers. Both figures broke the records held by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Manâs Chest
Spider-Man 3â broke records around the world too, as it opened abroad
even before hitting screens in the United States, underscoring the
rising dominance of international markets. The film took in an
estimated $227 million in 105 foreign countries, outstripping the
previous record-holder, Star Wars: Episode III â Revenge of the Sith
It was the biggest opening ever in the U.S., Canada, Japan, Korea, China, Russia, Italy, Mexico and Brazil,â said Jeff Blake, Sonyâs
chairman for worldwide marketing and distribution, adding that the film
broke records in 26 countries. âIt justifies the expense of a franchise
picture like this. And I think itâs a great sign for the summer.
The
movie may have cost more to make than any film in Hollywood history.
Sony put the budget at $260 million, with additional marketing costs of
about $120 million, but some published reports have placed the budget
at above $300 million.
The strong opening weekend for Spider-Man 3â may augur well for a season in which more than a dozen
big-budget sequels are set to come barreling forth, promising what some
experts say could be a record-breaking summer for the movie industry.Shrek the Third will follow Spider-Man 3â by two weeks, with Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End right after that.Oceanâs 13 and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surferâ come on their heels in June.This should be the first $4 billion summer, said Paul Dergarabedian,
president of Media by Numbers That could fuel the first $10 billion
year at the box office. That was unthinkable two years ago, during the
slump of 2005.
Mr. Dergarabedian and others pointed out that
sequels seemed the most reliable way to draw audiences to a familiar
theater experience and allowed studios to contain marketing costs
relative to the challenge of introducing new franchises.
The
results could help put to rest fears over declining audience attendance
and box-office revenue. Before this weekend, box-office revenues were
up 3.5 percent over the same period in 2006, driven by surprise hits
like â300, which took in $207 million domestically, and âWild Hogs, which took in $160 million in the United States.
But after this weekend, box-office revenues were up 6 percent a jump attributable to Spider-Man 3 while attendance increased 3.6 percent over the same time last year.
The
top executives at Sony said that the success of Spider-Man 3 in its
opening weekend, and its potential impact on the industry, more than
justified its budget. âWe knew what this movie was going to cost, and
we hoped that it would be successful,â Amy Pascal, the co-chairwoman of
Sony Pictures Entertainment, said.I donot think any of us thought it
would break records the way it has. It was budgeted to be a little less
than Spidey 1 and 2.
Riding a massive marketing push and a
release on 4,252 screens domestically more than any previous
Hollywood release Spider-Man 3 was impervious to a drubbing by
movie critics who said it had a surfeit of villains (four), an
indulgent length at two hours and 20 minutes and a Busby Berkeley
section in which Peter Parker cuts a rug.
The only competition among new releases for Spider-Man 3, Lucky You by Curtis Hanson, a Las Vegas poker story with Drew Barrymore and Eric Bana,
took in just $2.5 million. In those circumstances even the studio
releasing it, Warner Brothers, bowed to the blockbuster behemoth. They
just knocked it out of the park, Dan Fellman, president of theatrical
distribution for Warner Brothers, said. The horror film Disturbia came in second for the weekend, taking in a mere $5.7 million.
Dead Manâs Chest, the 2006 Pirates of the Caribbeanâ sequel from Disney, held the previous record for opening day ($55.8 million) and for the highest box-office take on a weekend ($135.6 million).
Ms. Pascal of Sony said she had definite plans to make yet another
sequel to the Spider-Manâ franchise, with the same group that had made
the first three hits.
We are going to make a lot more, she
said. I hope it will be with Tobey and Sam and all of them. They began
it, and I hope they go on making them forever.
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