Weekend Estimates - Spider-Man Nets Record $148 Million Opening

May 6, 2007

Spider-Man 3 matched the most optimistic predictions by opening with a phenomenal $148 million, according to Sony's estimate released on Sunday. After setting an all-time record for a single day on Friday (an estimated $59.3 million), the movie barely let up its pace over the weekend. Saturday's $51 million was also a record for the day of the week, and Sunday's projected $37.7 million will be another record. Perhaps most remarkably, given its huge distribution, the movie also set a record for the highest per theater average for a movie playing in over 3,000 theaters. This new mark, $34,807, is about on par with the inflation-adjusted figure for the first movie in the franchise, which earned $31,679 per theater when it was setting records back in 2002. In box office terms, Spider-Man is king again.

International grosses were also huge, with Spider-Man's earnings reaching an estimated $375 million by the end of the weekend. That's another record fast start, and puts the movie well on its way to profitability after only six days in release.

The other movies in release were barely a blip on the radar compared to Spider-Man 3. Disturbia earned an estimated $5.72 million to finish second, and was down a creditable 37% in its fourth weekend in release. New release Lucky You was a failed counter-programming bet, earning just $2.515 million in 2,525 theaters.

Filed under: Weekend Estimates, Spider-Man 3