HOLLYWOOD - "Spider-Man, Spider-Man, does whatever a spider can..."--including taking the box office title for the second week in a row. Spider-Man 2 easily toppled the competition this weekend with a healthy $46 million haul, beating newcomers Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, which opened in second with $28 million, and King Arthur, which debuted in third with $15.1 million.
Pundits are predicting Spidey 2 will exceed the $403.7 million total domestic take for Spider-Man, the top-grossing movie of 2002. "We're on the right path, but that's a big number. I wouldn't be comfortable saying anything beyond that," Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony told The Associated Press. "I'm almost afraid to jinx it."
This weekend, the Top 12 films grossed $137.7 million, down 13.02 percent from last weekend's $158.3 million, and up less than 1 percent from the same weekend last year, when they grossed $136.8 million.
The top three films at the box office this time last year were Buena Vista's PG-13 rated Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl with $46.6 million in 3,269 theaters with a $14,265 per theater average; 20th Century Fox's PG-13 rated The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in second place with $23 million in 3,002 theaters with a $7,687 per theater average; and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines in third in its second week with $19.4 million in 3,504 theaters with a $5,559 per theater average.
BOX OFFICE TOP 10, ESTIMATES: (Source: Exhibitor Relations, Inc.)
No. 1: Spider-Man 2 (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $46 million (-48%)
• Weeks opened: 2
• Theaters: 4,166 (+14)
• Per-theater average: $11,042
• Cume to date: $257.2 million
No. 2: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (DreamWorks, PG-13)
• Gross: $28 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,091
• Per-theater average: $9,059
No. 3: King Arthur (Buena Vista, PG-13)
• Gross: $15.1 million (Opened Weds.)
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3,086
• Per-theater average: $4,911
• Cume to date: $23.5 million
No. 4: Fahrenheit 9/11 (Lions Gate, IFC Films; R)
• Gross: $11 million (-32%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,011 (+286)
• Per-theater average: $5,470
• Cume to date: $80.1 million
No. 5: The Notebook (New Line Cinema, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.5 million (-12%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,288 (-35)
• Per-theater average: $2,852
• Cume to date: $43 million
No. 6: White Chicks (Sony Pictures, PG-13)
• Gross: $6.5 million (-25%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,201 (-599)
• Per-theater average: $2,953
• Cume to date: $57.1 million
No. 7: Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (20th Century Fox, PG-13)
• Gross: $5.4 million (-33%)
• Weeks opened: 3
• Theaters: 2,444 (-506)
• Per-theater average: $2,209
• Cume to date: $97.5 million
No. 8: The Terminal (DreamWorks, PG-13)
• Gross: $5 million (-36%)
• Weeks opened: 4
• Theaters: 2,313 (-469)
• Per-theater average: $2,162
• Cume to date: $65.3 million
No. 9: Shrek 2 (Dreamworks, PG)
• Gross: $4.5 million (-23%)
• Weeks opened: 8
• Theaters: 2,142 (-467)
• Per-theater average: $2,101
• Cume to date: $418.6 million
No. 10: Sleepover (MGM, PG)
• Gross: $4.2 million
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 2,207
• Per-theater average: $1,903
OTHER OPENINGS
Riding Giants (Sony Pictures Classics, PG-13)
• Gross: $140,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 26
• Per-theater average: $5,385
Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (IFC Films)
• Gross: $45,000
• Weeks opened: NEW!
• Theaters: 3
• Per-theater average: $15,000