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Anything a pirate can do, a superhero can do better

David Mumpower: This weekend, Spider-Man 3 became the largest domestic opener of all-time, earning an estimated $148.0 million. What superlatives would you like to throw at Sony and Team Raimi for this result?

Reagen Sulewski: I guess there are way, way, way more Venom fans out there than I thought possible.

Tim Briody: "Wow", is the only thing that comes to mind, really.

David Mumpower: Wow? Isn't that a bit obvious, Tim?

Kim Hollis: It's dollarific! Cashtastic!

Tim Briody: What can I say? I'm at a loss, since I think even the most optimistic forecast thought it wouldn't top Dead Man's Chest.

Joel Corcoran: It didn't deserve to top Dead Man's Chest either. This movie was the worst comic-related film since Fantastic Four. The only reason it's better than Batman and Robin is because of special effects...and a lack of neoprene suits with nipples.

Kim Hollis: Really, as far as people who I'm happy to see rolling in money, Sam Raimi is right near the top of the list.

Joel Corcoran: Me, too, Kim. Though I think the praise Sony has been heaping at his feet is a little over the top. Amy Pascal, the co-chair of Sony Pictures, called him a "genius." He's great, but I think Ms. Pascal has been hanging out with Uwe Boll too much. The real geniuses behind Spider-Man 3 are the promoters, advertisers, and marketers.

David Mumpower: What strikes me about all of this is how relieved Sony has to be after an incredibly difficult six month period since the failed release of the Playstation 3. If ever a corporation needed some good news, it's them. Spider-Man 3's opening weekend is the living, breathing definition of good news.

Reagen Sulewski: And as the reviews started rolling again, it almost looked as if they had whiffed on yet another sure thing. Comic book fans appear to be ignoring reviews this year altogether.

Kim Hollis: They should have had Spider-Man play Dance Dance Revolution on the PS3 for added exposure. I really thought Dead Man's Chest would be one of those records that held for several years. How wrong was I? (And was I ever way low with my prediction last week!)





Tim Briody: We collectively brought the suck on that one.

David Mumpower: Indeed. The largest estimate any of us made was Joel's $127.5 million and even that was lowballing this one by $20 million.

Joel Corcoran: For the record, my estimate was at least 3,275% more accurate than Vice President's estimate for the cost of the Iraq War.

Like Chandler Bing, Spider-Man's wallet is too small for his $50 bills.

David Mumpower: So, which of Spider-Man 3's records do you consider most impressive? Your choices are largest single day total, two of the three largest single day totals, the best opening weekend ever, the $142.3 million difference between it and the second place movie this weekend, or the $375 million it earned worldwide this weekend.

Kim Hollis: I really think the overall weekend total is the most impressive. That's something no one was expecting it to do at all. We could foresee a couple of huge single days (it seemed the very definition of one-day wonder) and great international business. With the totals from last week's top ten at the box office, it was also clear that it was going to blow them away.

David Mumpower: My vote is for the difference between Spider-Man 3 and Disturbia, the second place finisher. I realize that an important aspect of this is the weakness of the box office after Spider-Man 3, but the numbers are still astounding. Dead Man's Chest earned $135.6 million; Spider-Man 3 earned $142.3 million more than the film in second place. For that matter, it earned $122 million more than the rest of the top ten combined. Staggering.

Reagen Sulewski: I think it's the two single day totals. Any old crappy movie (See: X3) can get one of those, but to pull in two of the top single days in one weekend is pretty special.

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