'Spider-Man 3' breaks opening day box office record

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published May 6, 2007

Hollywood's biggest superhero now has the biggest box-office debut.

Spider-Man 3 took in a record $59-million domestically on opening day Friday, breaking the previous all-time high of $55.8-million for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in its first day last summer.

Sony Pictures, the studio behind the Spider-Man franchise, also reported Saturday that the movie took in an additional $45-million overseas on Friday for a worldwide total of $104-million, a record for single-day grosses globally.

Sony spokesman Steve Elzer said executives at the studio declined to comment until estimates for the full weekend are available this morning.

By then, the Spider-Man franchise could reclaim the record for best three-day opening ever. The first Spider-Man pulled in $114.8-million domestically in its debut weekend in 2002, a record that stood until Dead Man's Chest shattered it with $135.6-million last July.

Spider-Man 3 cost $258-million to make.

[Last modified May 6, 2007, 00:48:23]