Spider-Man good superhero sign
2002-05-07 11:51
Los Angeles - POW! The record-smashing success of Spider-Man has once again shown the box-office clout of superheroes as studios prepare to roll out a mighty line of men in tights - from big-screen newcomers Hulk and Daredevil to returning veterans Batman and Superman.
Spider-Man, the Columbia Pictures film based on the life and times of the Marvel Comics webslinger, grossed an amazing $114 million in its first three days in theatres, Friday through Sunday.
That makes it the biggest three-day film debut of all time, shattering the $90.3 million record set last November by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and the fastest film to break the $100 million barrier. No other movie has yet cracked the seven-figure mark in its first weekend.
The film's super-sized opening gave a powerful jolt to the unofficial start of a summer season that may be filled with blockbusters, including Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, which opens in two weeks.
"This portends a record-breaking summer season," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box office tracking service Exhibitor Relations. "There's a new reality for what is possible in terms of box office."
Flush from the film's stunning success, Marvel Enterprises formally announced on Monday that Columbia has paid a seven-figure advance for a Spider-Man sequel slated for release in 2004. A third film is planned for two years later.
"Spidey" star Tobey Maguire is on board for both sequels, reprising his role as a high school nerd who gets spider-like powers and super-human strength from the bite of a genetically altered arachnid.
For Maguire, the instant superstar status he gained from Spider-Man is as dramatic as the transformation undergone by his character. Columbia initially balked at director Sam Raimi's insistence that the diminutive, doe-eyed actor with the creaky voice be cast in the role of his superhero.
Spider-Man is only the latest in a new wave of superheroes leaping off the pages of comic books and into theaters as studios increasingly look to build big-event movie "franchises" with sure-fire box-office potential.
Four such Marvel-based films are due out next year alone, starting with Daredevil in January from 20th Century Fox. An X-Men sequel, X2, from Fox comes next, in May 2003, followed by The Hulk in June 2003 from Universal Pictures and Punisher, about an ex-cop vigilante, two months later from Artisan Entertainment.
Underwater blues
Marvel also has its underwater hero Sub-Mariner under development at Universal, The Fantastic Four at Fox, the mystical Dr. Strange at Dimension Films and Ghost Rider at Columbia, a unit of Sony Corp.
Superheroes have a distinguished track record as commercial powerhouses in Hollywood. The first Superman starring Christopher Reeve grossed more than $134 million during its 1978 run, making it a huge hit for its time.
Many of the latest projects come with big-name talent. Acclaimed filmmaker Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) is directing The Hulk, with Eric Bana in the title role of the giant green brute and Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly co-starring.
Another Oscar-winning actress, Halle Berry, will reprise her role as the superhero known as Storm for X2, co-starring Patrick Stewart from Star Trek: The Next Generation fame. And Ben Affleck will star in Daredevil as the blind but acrobatic crime fighter whose other super-developed senses more than make up for his lost vision.
Affleck, who trained for weeks to perform some of his own stunts, joked that Spider-Man will be a hard act to follow, saying, "There's no money left. Spider-Man has all the money."
The bar has, indeed, been set rather high.