Spider-Man kept up his box office heroics for a second weekend,
as the worldwide total for the third film in the superhero trilogy
hit US$622 million, the film's distributor said on Sunday.
In its second weekend of release, Spider-Man 3 sold an
estimated US$145.5 million worth of tickets, split between $60
million for North America and US$85.5 million internationally, said
Columbia Pictures.
The worldwide lead is likely to change next weekend when
Shrek the Third opens and then again the following weekend
when Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End sets
sail.
Spider-Man 3 enjoyed a wide margin in North America
over the two new releases that rounded out the top three: the
zombie thriller 28 Weeks Later with a disappointing US$10
million, and the latest Lindsay Lohan flop Georgia Rule
with US$5.9 million.
After 10 days, the North American total for Spider-Man
3 stands at US$242.1 million. By contrast, 2004's
Spider-Man 2 had earned US$256 million after two weekends,
and 2002's Spider-Man US$223 million. (Spider-Man
2 got a two-day head start, opening on a Wednesday.)
The latest film suffered a steep 60 percent drop from its first
weekend, compared with 49 percent for Spider-Man 2 and 38
percent for Spider-Man. Columbia said it was comfortable
with the slide given the film's record-breaking US$151 million
first weekend. The previous holder of that record, Pirates of
the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, fell 54 percent last
year.
The Sony Corp owned studio said Spider-Man 3 cost
US$258 million to produce, with sources estimating that prints and
advertising adding about US$125 million to the bill. The box office
pot is split roughly between the studio and movie theater owners,
according to a complex formula.
As with its predecessors, Spider-Man 3 stars Tobey
Maguire as both the titular crimefighter and Kirsten Dunst as his
disenchanted girlfriend, Mary Jane. Sam Raimi directs. A fourth
film is in the early stage of development.
The $10 million bow for 28 Weeks Later matched the
opening of its 2003 predecessor 28 Days Later, which
opened in almost 1,000 fewer theaters. Industry observers had
expected the new film to open in the midteen-millions. It was
released by Fox Atomic, the nascent genre arm of Fox Searchlight,
the art-house unit of News Corp.. A studio official did not return
a call seeking comment.
Georgia Rule earned Lohan a ton of bad publicity last
year when the film's producer, James G. Robinson, wrote the
hard-partying actress a letter condemning her "irresponsible and
unprofessional" conduct during production. It quickly found its way
onto the Internet.
Lohan has failed to capitalize on her 2004 breakthrough Mean
Girls, starring in such poorly received films as Herbie:
Fully Loaded and Just My Luck.
In her new film, she plays a troubled teen who is sent to live
with her tough grandmother (Jane Fonda) in small town. Felicity
Huffman plays Lohan's alcoholic mother.
Georgia Rule was released on behalf of Robinson's
Morgan Creek Prods. by Universal Pictures, a unit of General
Electric Co.'s NBC Universal. Universal said the audience was
primarily older women who were there to see Fonda. A spokesman for
Morgan Creek did not return a call.
Also new was the wartime romp Delta Farce, starring
comedian Larry the Cable Guy, which crawled into the No. 5 spot
with just US$3.5 million. It was released by Lionsgate, a unit of
Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. Paramount Pictures on behalf of
producer DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., while the Pirates of
the Caribbean films are Walt Disney Co. releases.
(Agencies via CRI.cn May 14, 2007)