Spider-Man rules the world

By John Freeman on May 8, 2007

It might have had mixed reviews (“Fun factor nil”, sniffs The Guardian), but after a record-breaking US opening, Spider-Man 3 has now demolished the international box office record with nearly £114 million at 16,700 playdates in 105 countries in six days. Variety reports that’s almost £32 million more than the foreign launch mark set by The Da Vinci Code a year ago in its first five days.

No doubt helped by a huge marketing campaign culminating in eight international pre-ems, Spider-Man 3 set records in 26 foreign markets including Brazil, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia and South Korea. Asia in particular sparked strongly to Spidey with new highs in every single territory.

Even in markets where the pic’s opening didn’t topple records, Variety reports nearly all the openings eclipsed the first two Spidey pics. In Britain it was set to be the third-biggest three-day opening with £11.45m, after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

Looks like we could be in for a stonking summer box office even if it is packed with sequels, including Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World’s End and Shrek The Third.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.