'Spider-Man 3' Unravels But Rules
by Brandon Gray

Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 3

May 14, 2007

After soaring to new heights in its first few days, gravity set in for Spider-Man 3, halting its record-breaking pace. The superhero sequel plunged 62 percent, in part because intense demand was satiated last weekend with the widest release of all time—over 10,000 screens at 4,252 locations.

Spider-Man 3 snared $58.2 million, the fourth-highest grossing second weekend ever after Shrek 2's $72.2 million, the first Spider-Man's $71.4 million and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest's $62.3 million. The latter two came off of record-breaking openings like Spider-Man 3 yet fell 38 percent and 54 percent, respectively.

This past week, it became evident a precipitous fall was in store for Spider-Man 3 as it earned less on its initial weekdays than the original Spider-Man. The percentage drop, though, was smaller than X-Men: The Last Stand and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban among third entries of huge franchises released in summer.

In ten days, Spider-Man 3 has accumulated a massive $240.2 million, which ranks behind only the Pirates sequel's $258.4 million among the largest ten-day tallies. The first Spider-Man had $223 million at the same point—which would equal around $255 million adjusted for ticket price inflation—while Spider-Man 2 was at $225.1 million.

Kirsten Dunst in Spider-Man 3

Overseas, Spider-Man 3 captured $84.3 million, bringing its worldwide weekend to $142.4 million (including domestic), down 63 percent. The worldwide total is now $625.7 million, already ranking 30th on the all-time chart. The first two Spider-Man movies wound up in the $800 million range by the end of their runs.

With no major new releases, overall business collapsed along with Spider-Man 3. The weekend tallied $106.2 million, which was still seven percent higher than the same frame last year when Mission: Impossible III and Poseidon led.

Best among a weak batch of openers, 28 Weeks Later grabbed $9.8 million at 2,303 sites, which was on par with George A. Romero's Land of the Dead from two summers ago among zombie movies. It was not as successful as its predecessor 28 Days Later, which opened to $10.1 million at 1,260 venues four years ago and held up extraordinarily well by zombie standards, closing with $45.1 million.

Lindsay Lohan in Georgia Rule

Georgia Rule mustered a scant $6.8 million at 2,523 theaters. Commercials for the grandmother-mother-daughter drama lacked punch and were awkwardly saddled with the promotion of the demographically similar Because I Said So's DVD release—both have distributor Universal Pictures in common. Georgia Rule co-star Lindsay Lohan had a comparable failure on this same weekend last year with the younger-skewing Just My Luck.

Comedies Delta Farce and The Ex were negligible as expected, managing $3.4 million and $1.4 million respectively.

Among wide holdovers, Disturbia again had the smallest drop, down 19 percent to $4.7 million. The $20 million thriller has collected $66.2 million in 31 days.

• Spider-Man Special Briefing

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• 5/15/06 - 'Poseidon' Capsizes, Cruise Clings to Top Spot (Same Weekend, 2006)
• 5/16/05 - 'Monster-in-Law' Claws to the Top (Same Weekend, 2005)

RELATED CHARTS
• Weekend Box Office Results
• All Time 2nd Weekends
• Fastest to $200 Million

NOTE: This report was originally written on Sunday, May 13 and was revised on Monday, May 14 with actual grosses.