'Amazing Spider-Man' catches audiences in its web

The relaunch of the Peter Parker franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man earned $65 million over the weekend for a six-day total of $140 million. That doesn't sound shabby to me, but within the context of other Spider-Man movies and superhero launches it's good, not sensational. While Spider-Man opened well above the relaunches of the X-Men and Batman franchises, its six-day total was slightly lower than the 2002 Spider-Man, which grossed $114 million over its three-day weekend and about $144 million if you count the six-day period. In comparison, Batman Begins blew its previous totals out of the water, while X-Men: First Class earned slightly better than its predecessor. Comparison calculus aside, Spider-Man is a strong franchise that kept, not lost, its strength. That in itself is an accomplishment. 25% of attendees were families drawn to the comic's more optimistic view of NYC and high school-age hero. Although The Dark Knight Rises releases in just two weeks, The Amazing Spider-Man has carved out a younger niche. Its A- rating in CinemaScore exit polls rose to A among viewers under 25. While 3D returns were a slightly disappointing 44%, IMAX contributed 10% of the total. Even when 3D returns are weak, IMAX usually makes a big impact, something that should be taken into account in assessments of 3D's waning grosses.

Savages' $16.1 million was right on target with expectations. However, audiences did not care for the Oliver Stone drug drama, giving it a C+ CinemaScore rating. A surprise ending was named as one reason for the low grade, since audiences don't like getting something different than they bargained for. The California-set crime picture played to an audience split evenly male and female, with 70% of viewers of the R-rated film over thirty.

Earning $7.2 million over the weekend, Katy Perry: Part of Me attracted an audience of young idolizers. 80% of the audience was female, and 72% under the age of 25. The numbers are somewhat disappointing for Paramount, but the project was also produced on a fairly low budget. An "A" CinemaScore rating will help this concert doc play well in coming weeks. Unlike many other outings in the same genre, Katy Perry: Part of Me wasn't marketed as a limited engagement, so perhaps that contributed to the softer opening.

Two indie movies occupied spots in the top ten. Moonrise Kingdom was off just 5% for a total of $4.6 million. Woody Allen's To Rome With Love gathered $3.5 million while also playing on around 800 screens. After a good but not great opening weekend, Beasts of the Southern Wild played strong through its second, averaging $19,000 per screen while expanding to 19 locations, for a total of $376,000. Next week it should cross the $1 million mark, a landmark that not too many indie films reach, much less on their third week.

This Friday, Ice Age: Continental Drift will replace Brave as families' freshest animated option.

 

'Savages' debuts as 'Amazing Spider-Man' pulls in the money

The Amazing Spider-Man (4,318 theatres) opened on July 3 and quickly earned $58 million here and another $50 million abroad. Through the weekend, the superhero picture should end up with a six-day total of $140-150 million. No wonder Sony wanted to reboot the franchise. The studio's bet has paid off with this film, which has earned positive reviews from critics and thumbs up from fans. FJI critic Frank Lovece declares the Andrew Garfield-Emma Stone pic an "action-packed ride with top-notch acting, great effects and stunt work, and a plot with more holes than a spider web."

The latest 3D concert doc, Katy Perry: Part of Me (2,730 theatres) will provide Perry's signature song-and-costume confections to fans who may not have seen the performer in concert. As critic David Noh reports, the doc also includes Perry's reaction to her floundering marriage and interviews with her evangelist parents. Noh "came away from it with a newfound admiration and respect for this fiercely determined, highly individual, smart and funny young woman." Paramount has modest, teen-million expectations for the project, which was produced on a relatively low budget.

A summer noir with plenty of sizzle, Savages (2,627 theatres) "remains true to the book's hallucinatory mix of stoner navel-gazing and casual brutality," deems Maitland McDonagh, referring to author and co-screenwriter Don Winslow's source material. The story of two drug dealers and their mutual lover, O (Blake Lively) gets a lot of tonal help from the "slacker-savant wordplay" of O's voiceover, which may have viewers reaching for Winslow's novels. I thought the (violent) flick offered plenty of fun, but Universal has set a low bar for the Oliver Stone-directed film, which is expected to earn just over $10 million for the weekend. Though Savages couldn't be more different from Ted (or Magic Mike), there are a lot of R-rated features competing for adult audiences.

On Monday, we'll see if Spider-Man ended up with its nine-figure payday, if audiences turned out for Katy Perry and if Savages sops up more of the R-rated segment of the audience during these hot summer days and nights.