'Spider-Man 2' earns record $180 million over long weekend

Posted Monday, July 5, 2004 at 2:50 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Spider-Man 2 exceeded the already high expectations its distributor, Sony Pictures, had for it this holiday weekend. The sequel pulled down a record $180 million in its first six days in release.

The previous record, set last July 4 weekend, was The Matrix Reloaded's $146.7 six-day opening. "Our hope was to go into the heart of the summer and grab the biggest six days possible. That's pretty much what happened," Sony Pictures Vice Chairman Jeff Blake said Monday. Now that's an understatement.

Over the period of Friday to Monday, Spidey raked in $115.8 million. That too broke the four-day holiday record, set this Memorial Day weekend by Shrek 2 with $95.6 million. As saying goes that sequels never live up to the original, the sequel failed to beat the original's three-day (Friday to Sunday) record of $114.8 million. Spider-Man 2 earned $88.3 million.

However, a big asterisk on that record is the fact that first Spider-Man set its record in the first three days in release whereas number two opened on Wednesday -- that meant most of its business came on Wednesday and Thursday. Plus, July 4 was a slow day in theaters as many people instead enjoyed the fireworks and other outdoor festivities of the holiday.