Oh, what a tangled web moviegoers weave. Sony Pictures is breathing a sigh of relief over the box office performance of Marc Webb’s “Spider-Man.” After another $20.7 million on Friday, the picture has found $95.7 million domestically in just four days. That puts estimates for the picture’s six-day cume north of $135 million. Impressive? Like most facts and figures, it depends on how you spin the numbers.
Sam Raimi’s three previous “Spider-Man” films have outpaced “Amazing” significantly. Especially when you consider the lower overall ticket prices during their year of release and that none of them had the benefit of higher 3D prices to pump up their gross. “Spider-Man 3” grossed $176.1 million in May, 2007. “Spider-Man 2” grossed $180 million over the July 4 holiday weekend in 2004 (the film opened on a Thursday). “Spider-Man” grossed $144 million over 10 years ago. Is “Amazing” a hit? If international grosses are superb, Sony has an excellent chance of breaking even or eking out a small profit on their reported $220 million plus investment. If not, it will have to be considered a loss leader for the two sequels confirmed on Friday.
Attempting to knock off “Amazing” on Friday was Oliver Stone’s R-rated thriller “Savages.” The picture found just $5.6 million which should mean an $12-15 million three-day take. The Universal Pictures release received mostly positive reviews with much credit going to the performances from veteran actors John Travolta, Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek. Strangely, audiences gave the film only a C+ Cinemascore which isn’t good for its long term prospects.
“Katy Perry: Part of Me in 3D” also hasn’t sparked with moviegoers. After a $3.1 million gross on Thursday, the behind-the-scenes look at the pop star’s life only found another $2.7 million on Friday. Paramount Pictures spent only $12 million on the film, but spent close to double that in marketing. No one ever thought it would be the cash cow “Justin Bieber: Never Say Never” was, but it was expected to be something of a financial success for the studio. So far, it hasn’t been a great 100th Anniversary year for the Mountain.
Showing no signs of wear in second place was Seth McFarlane’s “Ted.” The blockbuster comedy found another $10.5 million on Friday for a fantastic $98.1 million in just eight days. The Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis comedy has become one of the biggest surprise hits of the summer.
Also having a very lucrative Friday was Warner Bros.’ “Magic Mike.” The Steven Soderbergh stripper with a dream movie found another $6.1 million for $63.2 million in just over a week. At this point, it would be shocking if “Mike” didn’t turn out to be star Channing Tatum’s third $100 million plus grosser this year after “The Vow” and “21 Jump Street.”
“Brave” also had a strong showing with $6.2 million and $160.5 million to date. The Pixar fairy tale faces competition from “Ice Age: Continental Drift” next Friday, but still has a $200 million plus gross in its sights.
Look for complete weekend estimates tomorrow on HitFix.