Spidey Still Swinging

It's a wonder that Spider-Man can still swing freely; it must be hard to move when you're laden down with great big wads of cash, as was the case this weekend when Spider-Man 2 blitzed the US box office for the second week in a row. The Sam Raimi-directed megasequel, which broke all kinds of records open its opening last week, posted a hefty estimated $46 million over the three-day period, boosting its total take in just twelve days to an astonishing $257.3 million. In doing so, it became the fastest film ever to reach a quarter of a billion dollars. That second weekend represented a drop-off of just 48%, not bad in a summer where most blockbusters have plummeted like Tony Blair's popularity. The movie now looks on course to rival the original's $400 million take, although it probably won't equal or beat Shrek 2, which has so far racked up an astonishing $418 million, and isn't slowing down anytime soon. The result for Spidey 2 was doubly impressive in that it came in the face of intense competition from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, and King Arthur. But neither of those pics did as well as expected. Will Ferrell's Anchorman, which - full disclosure time, kids - Empire believes will be the funniest comedy of this, or any other recent, summer grossed $28 million to bank second place. Not bad at all, although some people (us included) had thought it would post in the high-30s, and truly establish Ferrell as a comedy megastar. Still, word of mouth might yet push the film to $100 million, although a worrying reported 11% decline from Friday to Saturday suggest otherwise. Yet, while Anchorman can be painted as a success, it was a case of Le Morte D'Arthur for Jerry Bruckheimer's mega-budget reimagining of King Arthur. The Antoine Fuqua-directed pic managed a paltry $23.6 million over five days (it launched last Wednesday), in direct contrast to Bruckheimer's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, which opened in the same slot this time last year. That launched Keira Knightley's career in the States, and Bruckheimer and Disney were hoping to consolidate that, focusing the movie's marketing almost exclusively around her Guinevere. However, with critics unimpressed, so too were audiences. Elsewhere on the chart, there were small drops for the likes of Fahrenheit 9/11, The Notebook and (shudder) White Chicks, while Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban finally fell out of the top ten, with a not at all bad $232.6 million. Next week sees the arrival of Will Smith's I, Robot which should see the end of Spidey's reign atop of the charts. Check back next week to find out, jiggy fans!