'Attack of the Clones' Trails 'Phantom Menace' During the Week
by Brandon Gray
May 22, 2002

Coming off a stellar $80,027,814 weekend, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones continued to exert its dominance over the North American box office during the week.

On Monday, which was boosted in Canada by the Victoria Day holiday, George Lucas' $115 million digital epic took in $10,660,341, down 56.3% from Sunday. It then eased 29.6% on Tuesday to $7,502,796, propelling its six-day total to $128,332,368. In the process, it skyrocketed up the all time chart, from No. 191 on Sunday to No. 160 on Monday to No. 137 on Tuesday.

As sensational as Clones' numbers are, they are beginning to lag behind those of The Phantom Menace three years ago. Playing at 2,970 theaters, 191 fewer than Clones, Menace generated $10,881,272 on its first Monday, off 50.4% from Sunday. It then dipped 24.8% to $8,181,275 on Tuesday for a seven-day tally of $124,723,784.

The disparity is even greater when considering that ticket prices have jumped 12% on average since 1999. Menace's Monday and Tuesday grosses would equal about $12.2 million and $9.2 million respectively today.

At this rate, Clones should hit around $142 million by the end of Thursday, which would put it slightly ahead of the $140,196,636 that Menace posted by its second Thursday.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man nabbed $4,308,824 on Monday and $2,783,820 on Tuesday, off 35.4% from Monday and a modest 38.5% from last Tuesday. In 19 days, it has caught $292,666,312 in its 3,615-theater web.

The $130 million Marvel Comics adaptation crawled up two spots on the all time chart since the weekend, now sitting at No. 13 between The Sixth Sense ($293,506,292) and The Empire Strikes Back ($290,475,067).

Even when taking ticket price inflation into account, Spider-Man now ranks as one of the most popular movies of all time. It has scaled the adjusted all time list to No. 74, behind Aladdin ($296.4 million) and ahead of Ghost ($291.2 million). Among comic book movies, only Batman ($356.3 million), Superman ($323.9 million) and Men in Black ($309.1 million) are bigger.

By Friday, its 22nd day of release, Spider-Man will have surpassed $300 million, handily eclipsing Menace as the fastest movie ever to reach that milestone.