'Amazing Spider-Man' Continues Franchise Dominance
Film pulls in about even with its trilogy predecessor in terms of openings
It may have just been a decade since we did all this the last time, but moviegoers are still hungry for Spider-man.
"The Amazing Spider-Man" earned $65 million at the box office this weekend, bringing its extended holiday total to $140 million, knocking the comedy "Ted" out of first place. As expected.
There was little doubt that Spider-man could still rule the box office, even if both Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi was gone. Spider-man has been a venerable franchise for Sony Pictures and Marvel, and this weekend continues to prove that.
But how did "The Amazing Spider-Man" stack up to its predecessors?
"Spider-Man" in 2002 earned $114.8 million in its opening weekend on its way to $403.7 million domestically. "Spider-Man 2" had a similar opening two years later with $115.8 million on its way to $373.6 million in North America. The final film in that trilogy, aptly named "Spider-Man 3," opened with $151.1 million, making it still the leader in opening weekends.
However, that film sunk like a dead weight. It would make just $336.5 million domestically, the lowest of all three movies.
"Brave," the animated feature from Disney/Pixar, fell to third place with $20.2 million, bringing its total to $174.5 million.
"The Avengers" finally falls out of the top 10 after more than two months with a $2.2 million weekend. That brings its total to a box office-smashing $611.1 million. "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" nudged its total up to $34 million.
"Snow White & the Huntsman" grabbed another $1.9 million to grow to $149.9 million. "Prometheus" got $1.8 million to bring its total to $122.4 million. "Men In Black III" was close behind with $1.8 million of its own to rise up to $173.2 million.
"Amazing Spider-Man" has only one true real competition to hold on to No. 1 next week. "Ice Age: Continental Drift" premieres from Twentieth Century Fox on Friday. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" in 2009 earned $41.7 million on its opening weekend, so if "Spider-Man" can control its second-week drop-off, it might have enough juice to stay on top two weeks ago.
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