Women help Spider-Man net Sony $341 million and counting

Spider-Man took in $140 million at the US box office in the first six days. Female viewers made up 42 percent of the Spider-Man movie audience

By Ronald Grover and Lisa Richwine,?Reuters / July 9, 2012

Andrew Garfield portrays Peter Parker in a scene from "The Amazing Spider-Man which opened strongly in the US and worldwide.

(AP Photo/Columbia - Sony Pictures, Jaimie Trueblood)

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The new "Spider-Man" climbed to the top of movie box office charts with weekend sales of $65 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales, a smashing debut for the reinvented franchise about a web-slinging superhero.

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"The Amazing Spider-Man," starring Andrew Garfield in the role played by Tobey Maguire in three earlier installments, started strong with $7.5 million in midnight sales on Tuesday and remained so through the U.S. Independence Day holiday and the weekend. The 3D film has so far snared $140 million during its domestic run, distributor Sony Pictures said.

The film has generated $341.2 million overall, including $201.6 million in the 70 foreign markets in which it has opened.

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Of its worldwide total, more than $24 million has come from showings in IMAX wide-screen theaters, according to Imax .

Earlier in the week, Sony had forecast domestic ticket sales of $130 million for the first six days.

The movie reboots the modern film series that began with 2002's "Spider-Man" and whose three movies netted around $2.5 billion at global box offices for its makers, Marvel Studios and distributor Sony Pictures.

After those earlier films, Sony cut the budget for its fourth installment and replaced Maguire with Garfield, who played a supporting role in Facebook movie "The Social Network,"

The film follows Spider-Man alter-ego Peter Parker in high school as he turns into a crime-fighting superhero. Garfield's real life girlfriend, Emma Stone, plays Parker's girlfriend, Gwen Stacy.

The story of young love helped lure female viewers, who made up 42 percent of the audience, according to Sony. Seventy-three percent of reviews compiled on website Rotten Tomatoes recommended the movie.

"This is a film that had something for women," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures Entertainment. "Gwen Stacy is a pretty strong woman in her own right, and the two of them had great chemistry on screen."

The new "Spider-Man" cost about $215 million to produce, plus tens of millions more for marketing. The film is Sony's second big-budget hit this summer, following the success of alien comedy "Men in Black 3" in May.

The studio's next major release, sci-fi remake "Total Recall," reaches theaters in August.

Last week's winner, comedy "Ted" about a man and his foul-mouthed, pot-smoking teddy bear, slipped to second place with domestic sales of $32.6 million from Friday through Sunday. Directed by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane, "Ted" has earned $120.2 million domestically since its debut a week ago.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/learning/~3/3cE6PfAamXk/Women-help-Spider-Man-net-Sony-341-million-and-counting

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