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Five years after Spider-Man made box office history, the franchise amazed again, breaking the same records of the first movie and then some.

Spider-Man 3 cast the widest web ever—over 10,000 screens at 4,252 theaters—and nabbed the all-time biggest gross for a single day: an estimated $59 million on Friday.

This time around, Spider-Man gets serious, battling several enemies—and an enemy within—in a psychological conflict that thankfully drops the first sequel's cynical guard and gradually restores some heroism. Spider-Man 3, co-written and directed by Sam Raimi, is better than expected. Thomas Haden ChurchKirsten DunstTobey MaguireJames FrancoTopher Grace

Burbank, California—Orange County's coastal city of Newport Beach was the setting for the largest John Wayne screening series last week and what a roundup, with the Wayne family, including the Duke's widow, appearing with many of his contemporaries. The centennial celebration of his 100th birthday—May 26—filled Newport Beach Film Festival seats, from Stagecoach (1939) to The Shootist (1976), at every screening. Katharine Hepburn

In a choppy back and forth sequel that reduces Stan Lee's Marvel Comics half-hero to anti-hero, Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) in Spider-Man 2 must choose between saving people and pursuing the woman he loves (Kirsten Dunst, reprising her role and trying too hard). But what there is of high-flying action is wedged between cynical mini-skits. Sam RaimiJames FrancoAlvin SargentAlfred Molina

Tobey Maguire stars as an intelligent and otherwise ordinary young man who becomes a superhero and struggles to balance his life while saving New York City in Sony's uneven but clever and occasionally rousing adaptation of the Marvel Comics character, Spider-Man. Kirsten DunstJames FrancoWillem DafoeSam Raimi

Wild Hogs and Mr. Bean's Holiday were neck-and-neck again for the foreign top spot on one of the slowest weekends of the year. May Day, Labor Day and other holidays caused delayed results in France, Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden and other countries, postponing the weekend ranking until Wednesday,

A weak crop of movies led to a poorly-attended weekend at the box office, even by late April standards. With new movies like Next and The Invisible following last weekend's meager batch (Fracture, Vacancy), it's as if the industry has been biding time until the summer season. Nicolas Cage

Burbank, California—Recent movies new to DVD cover a wide range of tastes, from the uncomfortable adult drama Little Children, with Kate Winslet's strong turn as a disowned suburban wife and mother getting it on with an emasculated Patrick Wilson to the silly but relatively harmless family fare Night at the Museum. Hilary SwankImelda StauntonStephen FrearsRon HowardRobin WilliamsGarry Marshall

At the foreign box office, Mr. Bean's Holiday and Wild Hogs each took in around $11.5 million, and the top spot was too close to call (final figures will be available Wednesday).

Two new thrillers with generic single-word titles, Fracture and Vacancy, generated little excitement over the weekend, allowing another single-word thriller, Disturbia, to lead the box office again. Anthony HopkinsRyan GoslingLuke WilsonKate Beckinsale

Actors Patrick, 67, and Ethan Wayne, 45, recently talked about working with their father, screen legend John Wayne, in advance of the most comprehensive screening series of John Wayne pictures since the actor died on June 11, 1979. Martin ScorseseSteven Spielberg

Burbank, California—The latest guns-and-gore spoof, Hot Fuzz, opens in 825 theaters this week, another of those rapid-fire pictures that sneers at values with nihilistic abandon, firing off bullets and one-liners, usually in the same instant, as heads pop off and blood goes spurting and it's all supposedly hilarious. The Virginia Tech massacre is a reminder that it isn't funny. Johnny DeppTobey Maguire

Anthony Hopkins can practically sail through any part and the ridiculous murder suspect he plays in the overwrought, heavy-handed Fracture is his newest semi-showcase. That's semi because he is hardly in it, playing second banana to the talented but miscast and misdirected Ryan Gosling. Matthew McConaughey

Swapping positions for the third time Mr. Bean's Holiday and 300 again led the foreign box office over the weekend, this time with Bean on top. Three other movies had very wide but mediocre launches.

The weekend was crowded with six new wide releases, but only one struck a chord, Disturbia, while the rest were ignored. With solid holdovers Blades of Glory and Meet the Robinsons in the mix, overall weekend business came in at $118.4 million, which is strong by mid-April standards. Halle BerryBruce WillisQuentin TarantinoRobert Rodriguez

Burbank, California—The critical consensus on Grindhouse is that Quentin Tarantino's segment, dubbed Death Proof with Kurt Russell and a roster of babes, is much better than the Robert Rodriguez-directed piece, Planet Terror, about a zombie siege. Neither is appealing but the latter is more proficient. Paul Verhoeven

Genevieve Bujold is one of those actors whose work invariably elevates the material. Readers may remember her as the skeptical surgeon in the screen adaptation of Robin Cook's medical thriller novel, Coma, as Charlton Heston's mistress in Earthquake or—powerfully and unforgettably—as King Henry's doomed but unyielding wife in her stunning Best Actress Oscar-nominated title performance for Anne of the Thousand Days (1969).

Smart, slick and exciting, director D.J Caruso's Disturbia is a firm thriller from start to finish. Shia LaBeouf taps upper middle class malaise as a high school kid name Kale with serious anger issues, bubbling up after his dad is killed in an accident. Carrie-Anne MossSteven Spielberg

At the foreign weekend box office which was delayed due to the Easter holiday, 300 edged out Mr. Bean's Holiday with $31.9 million from 61 countries, lifting its total to $175.6 million. Two key openings bolstered business: In Germany, the computer-generated battle picture debuted to $6.7 million, which was on par with X-Men: The Last Stand. Australia's $4.3 million start from 337 screens was even more impressive, eclipsing such past Spring blockbusters as The Passion of the Christ, Ice Age: The Meltdown and Hitch. Will Ferrell