'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.

 

Are you ready for the new 'Spider-Man'?

Watching the trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man, I already feel old. It feels like just yesterday that I was watching Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man giving Kirsten Dunst that iconic upside-down kiss. Man, that background music makes that moment feel so cheesy. On second thought, maybe it is time for a new Spider-Man.

However, the fact that they're re-booting the franchise just five years after the third film starring the original cast of characters signals so much that's wrong with Hollywood. Spider-Man "4" was originally going to star Maguire and Dunst and be directed by Sam Raimi. It was only after those oft-cited "creative differences" emerged that Columbia went ahead with an all-new cast and director. The trailer shows us we'll be getting a lot more of the same-old. Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone have the same feel as original stars Maguire and Dunst (even though Stone plays Gwen Stacy, not the Dunst role of Mary Jane Watson). IMDB says Rhys Ifans plays "Dr. Connor/The Lizard," so that solves who the mysterious green, monstrous enemy in the trailer is right off the bat--though comic book fans undoubtedly knew that already.

One thing I'm excited about is that an entire set piece appears to take place on the Williamsburg Bridge. I live near the bridge, and last year I saw the production filming a number of times. One night, they trained high-powered lights on the bridge that lit it up from end to end. I thought that was the kind of thing that was normally done in CGI, so the time, money, and effort that went into that impressed me. I was completely charmed by director Marc Webb's (500) Days of Summer, but I wonder how much of that sensibility will translate to this big-budget, action-centered production.

Of all the superhero franchises, Spider-Man definitely skews young. There certainly isn't the kind of darkness in the Batman series that changed with each director's iteration and made the superhero have appeal beyond the youth set. If they're only going for kids, perhaps it makes sense that a reboot will occur just ten years after the original and five years after the third film in the franchise. 

I can't help feeling a little bored with it all. The Amazing Spider-Man will have to live up to something that's only ten years old in our cultural memory. When Hollywood is already remaking something that premiered in this millennium, how can they expect adults to show up? And how can original screenplays ever have a shot?