SHOWBUZZDAILY BOXOFFICE: Spidey Flies Fairly High On the 4th

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THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (Sony) earned $23.4M at the boxoffice on July 4th, which is clearly a very good number.  The question is, how good?

It was the 2d highest Independence Day gross ever, below only the original Transformers, which made $29.1M in 2007, the last time July 4th fell on a Wednesday.  (#3 is Spider-Man 2 with $22M in 2004, but that was both a Sunday and the movie’s 5th day of release.)  The slightly unsettling aspect of the numbers for Sony is that while Transformers had only a 4% Tuesday-to-Wednesday decline, Amazing fell by 33%, making it far more front-loaded.  The percentages look better if one includes the $8.8M Transformers made in Monday evening “preview” screenings along with its Tuesday number–although the resulting 20% drop is still preferable to 33%–but in that case the Transformers total of $65.7M by the end of July 4th is running about 10% ahead of Amazing‘s $58.4M.  (And Amazing, of course, has the benefit of 3D ticket prices.)

On July 5, 2007, Transformers earned $19.2M, a 34% drop from July 4th.  A similar percentage drop for Amazing would give it a Thursday gross of $15.4M, and put it on track for a 6-day gross of around $130M, which would be in the neighborhood of the Top 30 6-day openings.  (Transformers is at #17 or #22, depending on whether its Monday evening grosses are included; the previous Spider-Mans are at #23, #8 and #11, respectively.)   All of this may sound like calculating how many web-spinning millions can fit on the head of a pin, but when a movie represents a $400M investment (including worldwide marketing) and the hoped-for start of a new rebooted franchise, the distinction between a $120M opening and a $150M start becomes meaningful.

Paramount will counterprogram Amazing today by appealing directly to the teen girl audience with KATY PERRY:  PART OF ME, a 3D concert documentary that’s getting surprisingly strong reviews (77% positive on Rotten Tomatoes).  On Friday, Universal adds the R-rated SAVAGES to the mix, currently languishing a bit at 68% positive on RT.