Spider-Man
Release Date:
May 3, 2002
The summer movie season will kick off with the big-screen adaptation of one of the most popular figures of pop culture in the last 100 years, Spider-Man. Based on the Marvel comic book, Spider-Man is helmed by cult favorite and self-professed Spider-Man fan, Sam Raimi, who directs a talented group of actors including Tobey Maguire in the title role, Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborn and Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson. The $100 million actioner swings into theaters during the weekend that has usually been associated with the beginning of the summer blockbuster movie season.
Every year for the last four years, there has been a movie released on this weekend that has opened to over $34 million. Chronologically, the movies are Deep Impact in 1998, The Mummy in 1999, Gladiator in 2000, and The Mummy Returns in 2001. Together, they averaged an opening weekend of $46.87 million, with The Mummy Returns being the highest grosser at $68.14 million. This trend will continue into 2002, as expectations for Spider-Man are quite high at this point.
Release date aside, there is no doubting the marketability of the film, and early advertising has been subtly brilliant. The Internet buzz on the film is high, as can be expected, but there is a general buzz building already as teaser posters, banners and a teaser trailer have hit theaters. Helping along the way is the high profile status of its young leads, mainly Dunst, who have already produced early (free) advertising through magazine interviews and while on promotional tours for other films. One other thing that can be counted on, and which has also become a tradition, is that the big movie released during the first weekend of May will get a Superbowl ad to introduce it to the public.
With such high early market awareness, an easily marketable and identifiable product, and a promise for a huge promotional output, Spider-Man is poised to be one of the biggest movies of 2002, if not the biggest movie of 2002, which is really saying a lot considering that Star Wars: Attack of the Clones debuts only three weeks after Spider-Man does. Spider-Man should see an even stronger opening than The Mummy Returns, and continue the tradition of kicking the summer off early. (Walib Habboub/BOP)
Comparison films for Spider-Man |
Title |
Date |
Opening |
Adjusted Opening |
Screens |
PSA |
Adj PSA |
Total BO |
Adjusted Total |
Mult |
| Mummy Returns, The |
5/4/01 | 68.14 |
72.72 |
3401 |
20035.00 |
20566.9 |
202.01 |
215.60 |
2.96 |
| X-Men, The |
7/14/00 | 54.47 |
60.93 |
3025 |
18007.00 |
19376.7 |
157.30 |
175.97 |
2.89 |
| Batman Forever |
6/16/95 | 52.78 |
73.16 |
2842 |
18571.00 |
24761.3 |
184.03 |
255.10 |
3.49 |
| Men In Black |
7/4/97 | 51.07 |
67.09 |
3020 |
16911.00 |
21369.0 |
250.15 |
328.62 |
4.25 |
| Batman Returns |
6/19/92 | 47.72 |
69.33 |
2644 |
18048.00 |
25223.7 |
162.83 |
236.59 |
3.41 |
| Godzilla |
5/22/98 | 44.74 |
57.52 |
3310 |
13517.00 |
16716.1 |
136.31 |
175.25 |
2.11 |
| Mummy, The |
5/7/99 | 43.37 |
51.68 |
3210 |
13511.00 |
15425.9 |
155.25 |
185.01 |
3.58 |
| Batman and Robin |
6/20/97 | 42.87 |
56.31 |
2934 |
14611.00 |
18462.7 |
107.33 |
140.99 |
2.50 |
| Batman |
6/23/89 | 42.71 |
64.54 |
2194 |
19467.00 |
28297.9 |
251.19 |
379.62 |
5.88 |
| Deep Impact |
5/8/98 | 41.15 |
52.90 |
3156 |
13039.00 |
16125.0 |
140.46 |
180.58 |
3.41 |
| Gladiator |
5/5/00 | 34.82 |
38.95 |
2938 |
11852.00 |
12753.5 |
186.61 |
208.76 |
5.36 |
| Crow, The |
5/13/94 | 11.85 |
17.51 |
1573 |
7533.00 |
10708.7 |
50.64 |
74.84 |
4.27 |
| Godzilla 2000 |
8/18/00 | 4.41 |
4.93 |
2111 |
2089.00 |
2247.9 |
10.04 |
11.23 |
2.28 |
| Gladiator (1992) |
3/6/92 | 3.31 |
4.80 |
1295 |
2556.00 |
3572.2 |
8.21 |
11.92 |
2.48 |
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