OK, we know it's early morning after a Bank Holiday weekend, but there are some facts and figures that we have to impart. If you're really suffering, here's the short version: Spider-Man 3 broke pretty much every box-office record going this weekend and has now made $382 million worldwide. For those of you who just joined us, that's quite a bit.
Now let's follow MC Hammer's example and break it down. Spidey nabbed $151 million in the US, easily nabbing the Highest Opening Weekend Ever prize back from Pirates 2 which took it last year. It did, however, open on 10,000 screens at 4,252 locations, which was also the Widest Opening Ever and probably helped. Still, with a whopping average of $35,540 per screen, it wasn't just the number of cinemas that did it. Spidey also broke single-day records on Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the US, with the Biggest Single Day tally ever on Friday ($59.8 million) and the Biggest Global Single Day ever on Saturday ($117 million). For those of you wondering whether this is all just down to inflation, the first Spider-Man's record opening adjusts to $130 million, so this is still well ahead.
But let's look at those global figures. The film made another $231 million in the rest of the world (another record - yawn), reaching number one in all 107 territories where it opened and breaking all-time opening weekend records in 29 countries, even tripling the take of previous number one **The Host **in South Korea and beating previous Italian top-earner The Da Vinci Code by 24% (so if the success of the less-good-than-its-predecessors Spider-Man 3 has in any way depressed you, take comfort in the fact that it is at least stomping on Dan Brown). While the film opened as early as Tuesday in some of those territories, it's still an undeniably impressive haul. Spidey also broke Imax records, taking $4.8 million there over 84 screens, breaking 300's recently set record of $3.6 million over a weekend.
Still not impressed? Check this one out: this weekend saw the greatest ever difference between the number one and number two films - Disturbia had been number one for three straight weeks, but with $5.8 million still landed quite a way back in second place this week. The only other new wide release, Lucky You with Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore, took a very disappointing $2.7 million. Sure it was only on half as many screens as Spider-Man 3, but it took about one-seventy-fifth of its total so it looks like the counter-programming angle didn't work. After all, 80% of all movie-goers worldwide this week went to see the friendly neighbourhood wotsit, so maybe there was no counter to programme.
Next week in the US sees the release of films including 28 Weeks Later and Georgia Rule, which shouldn't give Spidey too many problems, with another $200 million expected worldwide by then (very nearly putting Sony in the clear even with the admitted production costs of $258 million). But it's the opening of Shrek The Third the week after that will prove the real test of the arachnid's mettle. Can it hold the course? Or will it be Pirates of the Caribbean 3 that unseats this behemoth? Only time will tell, but for now, it's all about the webslinger.