Marvelous Fourth for "Spidey 2"

The Spidey cents were jingling this weekend.

Spider-Man 2, as expected, provided plenty of box-office fireworks over the Independence Day weekend, spinning up $115.8 million from Friday to Monday, according to final figures released Tuesday.

The return of Tobey Maguire as the sticky crusader set a three-day record for the Fourth of July with $88.2 million, beating Men in Black II's $52.1 million from Friday to Sunday in 2002.

Spidey's web extended to a whopping 4,152 sites (just shy of Shrek 2's record opening in 4,163 multiplexes in May), where the superhero sequel averaged $27,894 and accounted for more than 54 percent of all weekend ticket sales.

"We are elated," said Avi Arad, chairman of Marvel Studios and coproducer of the PG-13 Sony movie.

He said the result validated the studios' belief that the sequel--in which neurotic Peter Parker continuing pursuing Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) while his bold alter-ego confronts the extraneously armed baddie Dr. Octopus (Alfred Molina)--is a better movie than the original.

"For Marvel, sequels have been very successful...but listen, Spider-Man is very special, and the last movie did so well that you cannot not be nervous or take anything for granted. All you can do is try to make a great movie and hope people will respond, and it couldn't have been better."

With no other wide releases willing to tangle with your friendly neighborhood arachnid, Spider-Man 2 chalked up several other milestones. The flick, which debuted with a record $40.4 million in ticket sales Wednesday, now holds the mark for best six-day opening, beating The Matrix Reloaded's loaded $145.9 million last summer, and easily passing the $144.1 million snared by the original Spider-Man in 2002. It also scored the best five-day tally, earning $152.4 million to crush Shrek 2's previous record of $129 million.

One record that eluded Spider-Man 2's grasp, however, was the biggest three-day ever; the sequel's $88.2 million ranks seventh on the all-time list, well behind the original Spider-Man's $114.8 million.

Sunday, when barbecuing and fireworks obsess the nation, was, as expected, the weakest day for Spider-Man 2. But as Rory Bruer, Sony's president of distribution said, "I cannot complain about $22 million!" By Monday, the the haul was back up to $27.7 million, closer to Saturday's $33.7 million, but not in the league of its spectacular opening Wednesday. The film is already close to profitable (it cost more than $210 million to produce and market), and Spider-Man 3 is already in the pipeline.

While Spidey was slinging into the record books, last week's chart-bursting number one, Fahrenheit 9/11, wasn't left completely out in the cold.

Michael Moore's controversial Bush-bashing documentary dropped only a modest 32 percent from its surprise victory last week, earning $22 million after expanding to 1,725 theaters, about twice as many as its opening weekend but still fewer than any other films in the top 10.

The R-rated Lions Gate and IFC Films release, which is stirring political passions in this election year, was the choice of slightly more than 10 percent of the paying public and averaged $12,769 per site, excellent for a documentary.

Overall, the top 12 films grossed an estimated $158.4 million from Friday to Sunday, according to Exhibitor Relations, besting the three-day July 4 weekend record of $139 million set in 2002. With Monday factored in, the total was $208.9 million.

Box office was up 25 percent over this time last year, and 14 percent from last weekend. Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, notes a continuing "positive" mood among theatergoers this summer that was jump-started by the success of Shrek 2, now the fifth-highest grosser of all time with $410.7 million after seven weeks in theaters, moving past Spider-Man's $403.7 million.

Tom Ortenberg, president of distribution for Lions Gate, was also elated about his film. "[Fahrenheit 9/11's] a phenomenon...It's playing well to all demographics," he said, noting more theaters will be added this week. "I think Michael Moore's voice is resonating across America, quite frankly, despite efforts by some to smear him and the film."

Fahrenheit 9/11 cost only about $6 million to produce and not much more to market. It has now earned $61.1 million, and seems likely to eventually surpass $100 million. Ironically, a large portion of the profits will be earmarked for charities to be speicified by Disney, the company that dropped the hot potato of a film for political reasons.

Last week's other major player, the Wayans brothers' gender-bending comedy White Chicks, dropped one slot to number three this weekend, but a big 56 percent. It only grossed $11.5 million over the four days, from a per-site average of just $4,213.

Three films opened in limited release.

The most successful was De-Lovely, the Cole Porter biopic starring Kevin Kline as the famous songwriter and Ashley Judd as his wife. The PG-13 MGM release opened at just 15 sites, where it tallied $400,000 over four days from a $25,000 per-cinema average.

At 56 sites, The Clearing, an R-rated high-brow kidnapping thriller starring Robert Redford, Helen Mirren and Willem Dafoe from Fox Searchlight Pictures, cleared $619,000 for the entire holiday weekend, from a $11,048 per-screen average.

At 98 sites, America's Heart and Soul, a PG-rated rah-rah-U.S.A. documentary that Disney had no problem releasing, earned just $185,000 during the nation's annual red, white and blue celebration from a barely-there screen average of $1,887.

Here are the final three- and four-day tallies for the top 10:

1. Spider-Man 2, $88.2 million; $115.8 million
2. Fahrenheit 9/11, $16.3 million, $22 million
3. White Chicks, $8.7 million; $11.5 million
4. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, $8.1 million; $11.4 million
5. The Terminal, $7.9 million; $10.8 million
6. The Notebook, $7.4 million; $10.4 million
7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, $5.9 million; $8.5 million
8. Shrek 2, $5.8 million; $8.4 million
9. Garfield, $3 million; $4.3 million
10. Two Brothers, $2.7 million; $3.9 million

(Originally published July 5, 2004 at 5:40 p.m. PT.)