HOLLYWOOD - Spider-Man stuck to first place with a record setting $72 million second weekend and an unbelievably good drop of 37 percent that pushed its cume to nearly $224 million.Unfaithful's love affair with moviegoers began in second place with a sexy $14.2 million. The New Guy checked into third place with an encouraging $9.5 million given its $13 million cost.
The Scorpion King finished fourth with $4.4 million and a cume of over $80 million. Changing Lanes parked in fifth place with $3.5 million.
Driven by Spider-Man, key films--those grossing $500,000 or more --totaled $119 million, up 61 percent from last year's $73.9 million. This was the second consecutive pre-summer weekend in which key films dramatically out-performed their levels a year earlier. For the weekend of May 3-5, ticket sales were up 50 percent from last year.
This Thursday sees 20th Century Fox launch Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones. Given its brand name franchise status, its very wide opening at about 3,000 theaters and reviews comparing it favorably to the critically reviled Episode I, insiders are expecting it to open for four days in line with the nearly $115 million three day opening that Spider-Man enjoyed.
THE TOP TEN
Columbia's PG-13 action-adventure sci-fi fantasy Spider-Man kept its first place foothold in weekend two, still setting records with an amazing ESTIMATED $72.0 million (-37%) at 3,615 theaters ($19,917 per theater). So far, the film has trapped approximately $223.6 million in its web.
Spider-Man's average per theater was the highest for any film playing this weekend.
Given its phenomenal hold, insiders are speculating that Spider-Man, which cost $120-130 million, is on its way to $400 million in domestic theaters. Although no other potential summer blockbusters have even opened yet, the buzz around Hollywood has Spider-Man walking off with the summer's top grossing honors.
With that in mind, Spider-Man appears destined to be one of the top five biggest grossing films of all time. At the moment, with its $223.6 million cume it ranks 29th among all-time biggest domestic grossing films. Spider-Man will climb into fifth place if its cume passes Jurassic Park's $356.8 million total. To move up from there, it will have to do even better than insiders are now anticipating. Fourth place on the all-time domestic chart is held by Phantom Menace with $431.1 million.
Directed by Sam Raimi, it stars Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Cliff Robertson and Rosemary Harris.
"Down 37 percent, I think, is Spider-Man's most gravity defying feat yet," Sony Pictures Entertainment worldwide marketing & distribution president Jeff Blake said Sunday morning. "Off a number of this size (its $114.8 million opening) to only drop 37 percent is gravity defying that only a Spider-Man could pull off."
Looking at the film's record setting second weekend showing, Blake pointed out, "It's the biggest second weekend ever. Harry Potter's second Friday-Saturday-Sunday, which was over Thanksgiving (last year), was $57.5 million. Phantom Menace's four day second weekend over Memorial Day (in 1999) was $66.9 million. So it's just the biggest second weekend ever--three or four days.
"It's the fourth biggest Friday-Saturday-Sunday ever--period. It's behind week one of Spider-Man, week one of Harry Potter, week one of Lost World and ahead of week one of everything else, including Planet of the Apes and Mummy Returns."