Spider-Man 3 took in a record $59 million domestically on opening day Friday, breaking the previous all-time high of $55.8 million for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in its first day last summer. Sony Pictures, the studio behind the Spider-Man franchise, also reported Saturday that the movie took in an additional $45 million overseas on Friday for a worldwide total of $104 million, a record for single-day grosses globally.
By then, the Spider-Man franchise could reclaim the record for best three-day opening ever. In a news release, Sony said it expects Spider-Man 3 will come in around the $135 million to $145 million range for its first weekend. Spider-Man 3 opened to record numbers in some countries as early as Tuesday and expanded to other locations over the next few days.
Mr. Elzer said figures for the film's worldwide haul would not be released until today. The film, which cost $258 million to make, already had a record going into the weekend.
It opened in 4,252 theaters domestically, topping the previous record of 4,163 set by Shrek 2 in 2004. "It certainly doesn't hurt to have that much shelf space devoted to Spider-Man," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. Spider-Man 3 stars Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker, who becomes the web-slinging superhero after a bite from a mutant spider endows him with special powers.
The new film reunites Mr. Maguire with director Sam Raimi and co-stars Kirsten Dunst as Peter's girlfriend Mary Jane and James Franco as his old friend Harry, now a sworn enemy who blames Spidey for his father's death.
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