“Spider-man 3” dark side swings to record-breaking $148 mil opening
By Damara Popoola

Amazing Spiderman
Issue 252 – Dark Spidey

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/5/07 — “Spiderman 3” caught massive audiences in its web opening weekend, securing the number one spot with a whopping $148 million. The third installment didn’t wow critics, but that didn’t stop fans from flocking to theaters to see Spidey save the day.

The summer movie season has officially begun with “Spider-man 3” entangling record-breaking crowds in it’s web, but it is going to hard for the equally anticipated “Pirates 3” and “Shrek 3” to give the friendly neighborhood superhero a run for opening weekend record.

The first of the summer blockbusters, the super web-slinger and his friends even broke records with an opening weekend take that exceeded the opening gross of last year’s “Pirates” sequel by over $7 million.

No other films even came close to catching Sony’s number one. Teen thriller “Disturbia” captured a top spot with its $5.7 million, over a 90 percent drop from No. 1 to No. 2. Still in 3,000 theaters nationwide, the Shia LeBeouf-starrer now hovers at about $60 million total gross according to boxofficemojo.com figures.

Other holdovers included Ryan Gosling’s murder mystery “Fracture”, which held court at number three, with $3.4 million in its third week, bringing its gross earnings to around $26.5 mil. Supernatural thriller “The Invisible” also managed to fill a few theaters, falling only a few slots from last week to number four with $3.1 million.

Nicholas Cage’s action flick “Next” hung in there at fifth place, earning an estimated $2.8 million in its second week. Though the psychic Paramount pic played in more theaters this week, it’s take still decreased by just over 61 percent.

The only other opener for the weekend, Drew Barrymore’s “Lucky You” wasn’t so lucky as it ranked a disappointing sixth on the box office charts, only bringing in $2.5 million. The romantic drama also stars Eric Bana and centers on a professional gambler whose life changes when he develops a relationship with Barrymore’s character. Apparently that plot or names weren’t enough to move audiences to gamble on the film, even among those looking for “Spider-man” alternatives.

Comfy at the seventh and eighth spots were Disney’s animated “Meet the Robinsons” and Will Ferrell laffer “Blades of Glory.” The two films have remained in the top 10 for the past six weeks although this week “Robinsons” finally managed to sneak past “Blades” with $2.5 million. Ferrell and Co. took in a respectable $2.3 million, bringing it’s gross earnings to about $111.6 million.

In its third week, British police parody “Hot Fuzz” fell a few spots to number nine, but still managed to rake in an estimated $2.1 mil. Rounding out the top 10 was Ice Cube’s family flick “Are We Done Yet?” that remained safely at the tenth spot with its $1.7 million.