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Compiled by: Jack Foley
SPIDER-MAN 2 looks to have broken the six-day North American
box office record - as predicted by many pundits.
The sequel, which was released in America last Wednesday (June
30, 2004), nabbed an estimated $180.1 million (£98.5 million)
in its first six days of release, thereby setting a new level
for the time frame, and surpassing the $146.9 million bow of The
Matrix Reloaded last year.
The grand total looks to have beaten Shrek 2's record five-day
haul, of $129m (£71.6m), which was achieved earlier this
year, not to mention lining up the all-time record, set by Spider-Man,
in 2002.
However, there was some scepticism among industry experts, given
that the Friday-Sunday total of $90m was below the three-day total
of $114.8m ($63.4m) that the first Spider-Man film took on release
two years ago.
The sequel's three-day, Friday to Sunday total is reported to
have been $88.3 million - but this has been attributed to the
fact that it had already been out for two days, having opened
on the Wednesday.
In what is looking like another healthy period for the US Box
Office, Michael Moore’s controversial documentary, Fahrenheit
9/11, slipped to second place, taking an estimated $17m (£9.39m)
over the three-day weekend.
It has now taken more than $55m (£30.5m) in the US, since
its release, making it the most successful documentary of all
time, and is being shown on 1,725 theatres.
Distributor, Tom Ortenberg, president of Lions Gate Films, said
the movie was on track to become the first theatrically-released
documentary to make more than $100m (£55.5m). |
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First day round-up
Spider-Man 2 has netted an early cinema record, by making $40.5
million (£22.2m) on its first day of release in America.
The sequel broke the record set by its money-spinning predecessor
and looks well placed to break even more over the Independence
Day weekend in the States.
Delighted Sony execs enthused that ‘we are off to a phenomenal
start’, after the figures were revealed, with the $114.8m
(£63.4m) the original took, in 2000, the next target for
the number-crunchers.
Of course, the sequel, which reunites Tobey Maguire and Kisten
Dunst with director, Sam Raimi, was buoyed by positive reviews,
many of which declared it to be a better film than the original.
The record-busting first day figure was all the more exceptional,
because the film opened on a Wednesday, instead of the normal
Friday, according to Paul Dergarabedian, president of film box-office
analysts Exhibitor Relations, who added:
"We're in uncharted territory looking at midweek numbers
this big. I remember when $40 million was a big opening weekend
for a movie not that long ago, and now that's a single day in
the middle of the week."
The previous best debut for a Wednesday opening was set by The
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King last December, which
made $34.5m (£18.9m) - and it could even break the single
day box office record set by Shrek 2,
on the Saturday of the film’s opening weekend ($44.8m).
The film is due to open in the UK on July 15, and work on a third
film on the series has already begun. |
