Highs And Lohan

Spider-Man 3 is still on top... But the drop in tix sold was bigger than I expected it to be...

Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo:

In its second weekend, Spider-Man 3 fell 60 percent to an estimated $60 million, while new movies were soft...


Ian Mohr of Variety:

Sony's friendly neighborhood "Spider-Man" stuck another $60 million in his web over the weekend, sending the third chapter in the Marvel superhero franchise soaring to more than $242 million.

"Spider-Man 3" dipped a hefty 60% in its second North American frame, but the drop was in line with expectations after the pic posted the biggest opening ever, both in North America and abroad, last weekend.

"When you consider how huge our opening was, and the terrific midnight and late shows we had, (this drop) is realistic," said Rory Bruer, Sony distribution topper.

Third Peter Parker tale took in another $85.5 million from international markets to top $622 million worldwide over the weekend, according to studio estimates.

The previous record holder for biggest ever domestic opening, Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," dropped 54% in its second weekend last year.

Spidey has had two open weekends to rack up ticket sales before the competish gets much more fierce, as "Shrek the Third" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" ready to set sail.

Though the weekend competish didn't stand a chance against Spidey, the pic bolstered overall B.O.: Top 10 pics, according to numbers crunchers Rentrak, hit $94.1 million combined. A year ago, with "Mission: Impossible III" in the lead, the top 10 comprised just $80.8 million.

"Spider-Man 3" stayed strong in 4,252 theaters -- the widest release of all time -- with a second weekend per-location average of $14,111. Pic is handily beating out the past two "Spider-Man" pics. (In its second frame, "Spider-Man" stood at $223 million, while the second Spidey pic had cumed $225 million.)

...Fox Atomic's "28 Weeks Later," the zombie sequel, scared up $10 million from 2,303 locations in its debut as a distant No. 2.

Pic, however, did open comparably to Searchlight's previous "28 Days Later," which bowed to $10.1 million in 2003. That film wound up with $45.1 million, according to Nielsen EDI data.

Among other new releases, Universal's "Georgia Rule" -- starring Jane Fonda and Lindsay Lohan -- bowed in the No. 3 slot with $5.8 million from 2,523 theaters. Pic made headlines during production for Lohan's off-screen antics.

Lionsgate's "Delta Farce" -- a military comedy -- shot down $3.5 from 1,931 locations.

And MGM's release of the Weinstein Co.'s "The Ex" -- previously known as "Fast Track" -- bowed in 11th place, with $1.3 million....

Read the entire article here...

Joshua Rich of Entertainment Weekly sums up the weekend this way:

The webslinger stayed aloft at No. 1, but was down a surprising 60 percent this weekend...

It will be interesting to see where the wall-crawler will land on next week's chart--once the real competition starts coming in...