According to Box Office Mojo and other internet sources, Spider-Man 3 has grossed an estimated $59 million on its opening day including a record number of sold out Thursday midnight screenings, estimated to have brought in $10 million of that amount. DeadlineHollywood reports that the third installment of Sony’s blockbuster franchise grossed $104 million worldwide yesterday making May 4, 2007 the highest single day gross in box office history.
That opening gross is compared to the $40 opening day for Spider-Man 2, which opened on a Wednesday in 2004, and the $43.6 million opening of the original Spider-Man, which opened on the exact same day five years ago.
If that number sticks, it will have topped the previous opening day record set last year by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, which opened with $55.8 million and wound up setting a new opening weekend record with $135 million, an amount that Spider-Man 3 is very likely to surpass by Sunday. (George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith previously held the opening day record with $50 million on Thursday, May 19, 2005.)
Some early projections for the weekend are putting Spider-Man 3 in the range between $138 and $145 million for the weekend, allowing it to easily beat Dead Man’s Chest‘s opening weekend record and to regain the record the original Spider-Man has held for four years prior.
Check back tomorrow for the final weekend box office estimates for Spider-Man 3… and the other movies in theatres.
