Sony Ups 'Spider-Man' View After $59 Million 2-Day Take - Businessweek

Sony Corp. (6758) raised its estimate for “The Amazing Spider-Man” after the restart of the hit movie franchise generated $59.3 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales over its first two days.

Sony now expects the film, released on July 3 to capitalize on yesterday’s U.S. Fourth of July holiday, to take in $120 million to $130 million or more over its first six days, according to a statement today. The company previously estimated $110 million to $120 million.

The movie, Sony’s second’s big film of the summer, revives a franchise that took in $2.55 billion in worldwide ticket sales from three pictures, according to researcher Box Office Mojo. This version has a new cast, with Andrew Garfield replacing Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man. Garfield played Facebook Inc. co- founder Eduardo Saverin in “The Social Network” and is onstage as Biff Loman in “Death of a Salesman” on Broadway.

Sony today raised its tally for opening-day sales to $35.9 million from the $35 million originally reported. Yesterday’s $23.4 million was the second-biggest July 4 on record, the company said.

The film’s opening day set a record for box-office sales on a Tuesday, surpassing “Transformers,” which took $27.9 million on July 3, 2007, according to Paul Dergarabedian, president of Hollywood.com’s box office division.

Over last year’s July 4 holiday, the sequel “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” made $180.7 million in its first six days.

The last Spider-Man movie to open over the July 4 holiday, “Spider-Man 2,” made $180.1 million in its first six days in 2004.

New Cast

“The Amazing Spider-Man” portrays the orphaned Peter Parker coping with a crush on high-school classmate Gwen Stacy while trying to unravel the mystery behind his parents’ disappearance. A visit to a high-tech research laboratory results in a spider bite that endows him with extraordinary powers.

Emma Stone is featured as Stacy. Martin Sheen and Sally Field co-star as Peter’s Uncle Ben and Aunt May.

The movie is benefiting from critical praise. Of 168 reviews compiled on Rottentomatoes.com, 123, or 73 percent, were positive as of July 3.

Outside North America, where it was released in some markets this past weekend, the movie has made more than $50 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

Studio Ranking

The original series co-starred Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson, a subsequent girlfriend in the Marvel Comics series. Cliff Robertson played Uncle Ben and Rosemary Harris portrayed Aunt May. The last film in the trilogy was released in 2007.

U.S.-traded shares of Sony, based in Tokyo, fell 3.3 percent to $13.80 at 1:57 p.m. in New York, after having declined 21 percent so far this year.

The company’s Culver City, California-based Sony Pictures ranked third this year in domestic box-office revenue with $785.8 million as of July 1, according to Box Office Mojo.

The studio’s top film this year is the May 25 release “Men in Black 3,” with $170.2 million in U.S. and Canadian sales, according to the researcher.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net