LOS ANGELES, May 28 -- "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" and "Spider-Man" continued to amass huge piles of cash over the Memorial Day holiday weekend, leading the U.S. box-office to another record performance.
Overall, the U.S. box office pulled in an estimated $205 million -- up 10 percent from last year's record-setting Memorial Day weekend, when "Pearl Harbor" opened at No. 1 with $75.2 million. The box office is 22 percent ahead of last year's pace, with $3.45 billion in the bank,according to data from box-office tracker Nielsen EDI.
"It's the year of the box-office bonanza," EDI executive vice president Dan Marks told Daily Variety.
"Clones" finished at No. 1 for a second straight week, grossing an estimated $61.2 million, to run its 12-day gross to $202.5 million. It reached $200 million one day faster than "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" in 1999.
"Spider-Man" took in another $36.5 million, to run its gross to $334.3 million after four weekends. It leapfrogged past "Independence Day," "Return of the Jedi," "The Lion King," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and "Forrest Gump" into sixth place on the all-time list of U.S. blockbusters.
"Spider-Man" passed $300 million in a record 22 days. At the rate it's going, it seems assured passing $400 million, which would take it past "Jurassic Park" and "E.T. The Extra Terrestrial" to make it the third-biggest U.S. box-office hit ever.
The new Al Pacino-Robin Williams thriller "Insomnia" opened in third place with $26.2 million. DreamWorks' new animated family picture "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" was No. 4 with $23 million. The new Jennifer Lopez thriller "Enough" was No. 5 with $17.5 million.
"Spider-Man" has yet to experience the kind of week-to-week drop-off that blockbusters typically go through. One reason why its numbers held up this week is that Sony Pictures expanded its theater count by 7 percent -- to a record 3,876.
Competition among distributors for screens will intensify in the next few weeks.
With "Clones" and "Spider-Man" still filling seats, and this weekend's three new entries scoring well, exhibitors will have some tough choices to make as they prepare room in the marketplace for two highly anticipated entries on Friday -- "The Sum of All Fears" and "Undercover Brother."
It gets even tougher after that.
On June 7, Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock show up in "Bad Company," and an ensemble cast headed by Ellen Burstyn open in "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." The following weekend has a crowded release schedule with Matt Damon in "The Bourne Identity," Nicolas Cage in "Windtalkers" and the live-action version of the TV cartoon classic "Scooby-Doo."
Disney brings its latest animated feature, "Lilo and Stitch" to theaters on June 21, the same weekend that the Steven Spielberg-Tom Cruise collaboration "Minority Report" arrives. On June 28, Adam Sandler opens in "Mr. Deeds" and the movie version of the kids TV series "Hey Arnold!" arrives in theaters.
"Men in Black 2" is expected to dominate when it opens on July 3, the same weekend as "The Powerpuff Girls," the latest big screen adaptation of a TV cartoon series, debuts.
The second half of the summer release season will further challenge the stamina of exhibitors and moviegoers, with major releases including "The Road to Perdition" (Tom Hanks, Paul Newman); "K-19: The Widowmaker" (Harrison Ford); "Stuart Little 2"; "Austin Powers in Goldmember"; "The Country Bears"; "Full Frontal" (Julia Roberts); "The Master of Disguise" (Dana Carvey); "Signs" (Mel Gibson); "Spy Kids 2"; "XXX" (Vin Diesel); "The Adventures of Pluto Nash" (Eddie Murphy); and "The Tuxedo" (Jackie Chan).
The movie business seems destined to shatter existing summer box-office records by wide margins, if distributors can find enough screens to show their movies, and movie fans don't run out of money and leisure time. Content: 01005000 01021000
