KEY POINTS:
LOS ANGELES - Spider-Man has lost none of his bite, setting box office records around the world in his third crimefighting salvo.
All told, Spider-Man 3 has sold an estimated US$375 million worth of tickets worldwide, since opening internationally on May 1, distributor Columbia Pictures said today.
That
is the highest opening since Stars Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith opened to US$254 million in 2005, the studio said.
In North America, the film earned US$148 million since launching on Friday, smashing the opening-weekend of US$135.6 million set last July by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
The film also set a single-day record with Friday sales of US$59.3 million, beating the US$55.8 million record also held by the Pirates sequel.
The international portion -- US$227 million from 107 markets -- beats the US$155 million opening record set last year by Sony's Vatican thriller The Da Vinci Code, the studio said.
"I don't think that my brain went to this place. It's pretty wonderful," said Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
WORLDWIDE EVENT
The 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 theatre owners, according to a complex formula.
In a bid to create simultaneous worldwide buzz, Columbia started rolling out the film across Asia and Europe last week, and added markets as the week progressed. Britain and North America were among the last to get the movie.
Noting constant criticisms about Hollywood's ever-increasing budgets, Sony Pictures vice chairman Jeff Blake said the answer was to "find a way to raise the bar on box office (sales), and I think what we've done here on the worldwide opening -- getting figures that people have never seen before -- is the only way you can do it."
The film set opening-weekend records in more than two dozen countries, including Japan, South Korea, China, Russia, Italy, Mexico and Brazil, Columbia said.
Weekend sales in Japan -- where the film had its world premiere last month -- totalled US$26.5 million, followed by Britain with US$23 million and France with US$22 million.
As with its predecessors, Spider-Man 3 stars Tobey Maguire as both the titular crimefighter and as earnest newshound Peter Parker, and Kirsten Dunst as his disenchanted girlfriend, Mary Jane. Sam Raimi directs.
Spider-Man gets to explore his dark side, thanks to some extraterrestrial black goo that infects his personality, and to combat three villains, played by series veteran James Franco and newcomers Thomas Haden Church and Topher Grace. His nerdy alter ego must also fight to keep Mary Jane.
The multi-strand plot frustrated some critics, but Pascal said it was key to keeping the franchise fresh.
"Spider-Man always appeals to boys, but I think this particular story also appealed to women and it appealed to families, in a way that the last one didn't," she said.
Columbia said exit polling in North America indicated that the audience was 54 per cent male, while 63 per cent of moviegoers were under 25 years old.
The first Spider-Man, in 2002, started off with a then-record US$114.8 million, and finished with US$403.7 million. Two years later, Spider-Man 2 totalled US$373 million; it opened on a Wednesday, making weekend comparisons difficult. Pascal said she hoped to hit US$400 million with the new film.
A script for Spider-Man 4 is being written, but no talent deals have been signed. "We're making ... as many (films) as I can do," Pascal said.
- REUTERS