The Amazing Spider-Man swoops on UK box office

The Amazing Spider-Man has topped the UK and Ireland box office, taking £11 million in its opening weekend.

A reboot of the popular comic book franchise, it managed to out-perform the 2002 Spider-Man film which took £8.9m when it opened in June 2002.

Yet it did not outrank Marvel Avengers Assemble, whose £15.7m debut remains this year's largest first weekend haul.

Sony's latest pass at the story, which stars Britain's Andrew Garfield, was boosted by takings from 3D screenings.

It also benefited from early preview screenings, which accounted for £4.33m of its box office tally. 

The 2002 Spider-Man had no previews and also had to compete with England and Ireland World Cup matches in its opening weekend.

There was a new entry in this week's Top 10 for Katy Perry's concert documentary Part of Me, which reached fourth place with takings of £449,491.

Bollywood comedy Bol Bachchan claimed eighth place with a £160,941 haul, despite screening in just 50 cinemas.

Animated sequel Ice Age: Continental Drift dropped one place to this week's number two, taking £719,679 in its second weekend in cinemas.

Jason Segel and Emily Blunt's comedy drama The Five-Year Engagement was at number three, while Men In Black 3 held on to the number five spot after seven weeks in cinemas.

The most successful film in the chart is Ridley Scott's space opera Prometheus, which remains in sixth place.

Starring Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender, the movie has now taken a total of £23.9m in the UK and Ireland.

Swinging start for 'Spider Man' at the box office

The Amazing Spider-Man snared an easy win at the box office this weekend, though the web-slinger slowed after his blistering start, when the film earned $35 million Tuesday.

 The reboot of the Sam Raimi franchise made $65 million this weekend, according to studio estimates from box-office trackers Hollywood.com.

The $200 million film has made $140 million since its release Tuesday, a solid debut for the new franchise.

Analysts expecting a larger weekend speculated that the poor critical reception of Spider-Man 3, which opened to $151 million in 2007 but was savaged by reviewers and fans, muted response to this film.

"Audiences who let Spider-Man 3 open to $151 million in three days are looking at The Amazing Spider-Man and shrugging their shoulders at it," says Tim Briody of Boxofficeprophets.com.

Even in the era of huge numbers, it's hard to scoff at $65 million, Briody says. "But you still come away with the feeling that there was money left on the table here. Not to mention that its long-term prospects aren't looking so hot."

Still, Spidey has two weeks to plunder the box office until The Dark Knight Rises arrives July 20 to expected huge numbers.

Steve Elzer, senior vice president of media relations for distributor Sony Pictures, calls Spider-Man's opening "a truly spectacular start, especially in the world of relaunched franchises." He says the film has made $341 million worldwide, which includes domestic grosses.

Elzer also notes that Chris Nolan's 2005 Batman Begins, a reboot of that franchise, made $79.5 million in its first six days. That film would go on to make $205 million, followed by 2008's The Dark Knight, which became the fourth highest-grossing film on record with $533 million.

Though no release date has been set for a sequel, screenwriters have been working on a new Amazing Spider-Man installment for months, says producer Matt Tolmach.

"We love this story," he says. "There are many to be told. We'd like to be making a Spider-Man movie every two years."

Ted, the raunchy comedy starring Mark Wahlberg, fell to second place with $32.6 million, followed by the Pixar fairy tale Brave with $20.2 million.

The only other major newcomer, Oliver Stone's violent drama Savages, made a healthy $16.2 million, beating most projections and taking fourth place. The male-stripper story Magic Mike rounded out the top 5 with $16.2 million.

Final figures are due Monday.

Spider-Man laughs all the way to the bank

The Amazing Spider-Man has proved to be a real superhero at the Indian boxoffice, raking in close to Rs34.5 crore in its three-day weekend since release on Friday.

This is the biggest ever opening for a Hollywood film in India, and the trade guesses the web-slinger's latest adventure is on its way to becoming the biggest Hollywood hit of all time in the country.

The film, which opened in 13 countries including India on Friday ahead of its July 3 release in the U.S., has seen a similar thumping response in every market, grossing $50.2 million worldwide.

Record-breaker: Andrew Garfield stars as Spider-Man

'We were expecting a solid opening for Spider-Man. The way the film has maintained a steady graph in ticket sales over the weekend, it won't be surprising if The Amazing Spider-Man ends up as the biggest Hollywood grosser of all time in India,' says Ashish Saksena, COO, Big Cinemas.

'Even Sunday night shows all across were full, and the audience - largely college-goers - have ensured that Monday morning was strong for the film, too,' Saksena adds. 


Opening weekend statistics for the film, released with 1,000 prints across India, beats the initials of the Tom Cruise-starrer, Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol, which earned a little over Rs24 crore in its first three days when it released last December. James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster Avatar managed Rs22 crore in its first weekend while The Avengers, earning Rs18 crore in its first weekend in India in April, has so far been this year's biggest Hollywood hit in the domestic market.

The new Spidey flick has also seen a 74 per cent higher first-weekend collection than the last film of the franchise, Spider-Man 3.

'Spiderman: Fri - 8.50 cr, Sat - 9.75 cr, total 18.25 cr nett... Mind-boggling biz of #TheAvengers and #The Amazing Spiderman in India should act as an eyeopener. Don't underestimate the Hollywood biggies!' tweeted trade analyst Taran Adarsh.

Of the 1,000 prints released across 1,500 screens in India, 500 are in 3D format and demand for the 3D version is higher than that for the traditional 2D shows.

'The response for the IMAX and 3D versions has been 100 per cent. Those opting for the 2D versions over the weekend only did so because IMAX and 3D were sold out,' says Saksena.

While Sony refused to officially reveal box-office figures on Monday, trade sources say even the dubbed Hindi version of the film has done better than Maximum, the week's only Bollywood release.



BY: DailyMail  (Vinayak Chakravorty)

'The Amazing Spider-Man' Breaks Record Overseas, Beats Sam Raimi's Versions

Collecting an estimated $50.2 million in 13 international markets, the Marc Webb-directed Spider movie also opens bigger than 'The Avengers' in some Asian countries.

Before opening in the United States, "The Amazing Spider-Man" already scores a massive gross overseas. It has been reported that the Marc Webb-directed superhero movie has successfully pocketed an estimated $50.2 million in 13 international markets on its first weekend. "This is a very healthy start," Phil Contrino, BoxOffice.com editor, gushes as quoted by E! News. 


Read Movie Review : The Amazing Spiderman

The Andrew Garfield-starring Spidey movie also breaks records in several countries. In India, the film becomes the highest-grossing opening ever for a Hollywood movie, while in Korea, it breaks the biggest debut record previously held by "The Avengers". In Japan, meanwhile, the flick dominates nearly all of the country's ticket sales on Saturday and Sunday.

The new version of Spidey movie also bests the international opening for Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" film franchise. In Korea and India, for example, Webb's movie beats the opening gross for Raimi's "Spider-Man 3", while in Vietnam, the film outgrosses the entire run of the Tobey Maguire-starring Spidey movies.

Regarding the successful result, David Mumpower of Box Office Prophets states, "For whatever reason, the [original] Spider-Man trilogy never performed quite as dominantly in the international marketplace." He continues, "For the Amazing Spider-Man to launch like this internationally is a tremendous relief for Sony."

After scoring a big success overseas, "The Amazing Spider-Man" will have to compete domestically when it opens in the United States this Tuesday, July 3.

Movie Review : The Amazing Spider-Man

Director: Marc Webb

Cast: Emma Stone, Andrew Garfield, Stan Lee, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen, Chris Zylka, C. Thomas Howell, Sally Field, Embeth Davidtz, Denis Leary, Irrfan, Kelsey Chow, Annie Parisse, Campbell Scott, Michael Massee

Rating: ****

First, the bad news: The Amazing Spider-Man contains a majority of the elements found in the Sam Raimi film – Peter Parker is a loser school kid in NY, Peter has the hots for his classmate, Peter gets bitten, Peter becomes Spidey, Peter overcomes the school bully, Peter loses his uncle, and Peter fights crime. There is precious little that the reboot brings to the table, some of which includes a glimpse of his parents. The good news is that The Amazing Spider-Man works despite the constant sense of deja vu.

That slightly-okay story finds a young Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) being hurriedly placed by his parents in the care of Uncle Ben (Martin Sheen) and Aunt May (Sally Field). Cut to a grown up Peter working with his late father’s old colleague Doctor Connors (Rhys Ifans) and finding love and a pesky reptilian ruffian with a master plan. The bulk of the film then becomes a series of action scenes and romantic cutaways in which Peter and Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) effortlessly make us forget the lame melodrama between Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

There is no upside down kiss under the rain, but there is an unexpected moment under a starlit balcony and a finale that puts a big twist on the bittersweet climax of the 2002 movie. Despite some clunky dialogue, the melodrama and romance here actually works — thanks mainly to director Mark Webb who brings the matured, assured handling of emotions from his (500) Days of Summer and makes his actors believable. Unlike the case in Spider-Man 3, Webb keeps The Amazing Spider-Man from becoming a string of hastily glued together boring ‘emo’ bits.

Best, however, is the charming Andrew Garfield in the title role —even though he looks hilariously old for a school kid. Garfield is the perfect leading man and has a sunny, winning charisma that audiences (mostly girls) can cheer for.

Peter here is faced with more heartbreak and trauma than in all three previous films put together, yet Spidey is more of the sarcastic wisecracking punk here — it makes for a nice change. Emma Stone is jaw-droppingly gorgeous to look at, and her Gwen is rather courageous instead of ditsy. Sheen and Field here are the Hollywood versions of Alok Nath and Farida Jalal, and they even have those overtly dramatic facial expressions and cringe-inducing lines. Irrfan plays the Token Black Guy of the movie.

Mark Webb seems to understand why we have put on the 3D glasses, and he offers enough immersive scenery to keep us wowed. When Spider-Man swings, he takes you along with him. The downside is that there simply aren’t enough of those scenes. There are some brilliant sequences, including one in a sewer that lasts quite a few minutes. One little scene at Peter’s school where a certain someone makes a cameo is probably the film’s best moment. There is also a 3D jump scare that might scare the hell out of you.

The Lizard is menacing, and very intricately designed but frustratingly there aren’t enough still moments to make us appreciate the work that was put in to create the motion capture GI beastie. When the action isn’t happening, Webb brings in his years of music video experience and throws in some rock music montage, but it sadly makes us yearn for Danny Elfman’s score from the Raimi movies.  

By santabanta