Spider-Man: Homecoming" Tops Box Office
July 09 2017 - 2:02PM
Dow Jones News
By Ben Fritz
The superhero who kicked off Hollywood's modern comic book craze
has swung back into the top tier.
"Spider-Man: Homecoming" opened to a strong $117 million in the
U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates -- the best opening
for a film featuring the web-slinging teenager in a decade.
Overseas, it took in $140 million from 56 markets, more than any
prior "Spider-Man" film in the same set of countries. It performed
particularly well in South Korea, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
"Homecoming" has yet to open in France, Germany or Japan and to be
approved for release in China, which typically imposes a "blackout"
on Hollywood imports for several weeks during the summer in order
to promote local films.
The reboot earned overwhelmingly positive reviews and an average
grade of A from opening night audiences, according to market
research film CinemaScore, indicating it should have a robust run
in theaters over the coming weeks.
Its success will benefit two Hollywood competitors, Sony
Pictures Entertainment and Walt Disney Co.'s Marvel Studios, that
joined together to make "Homecoming" in an unusual partnership.
Sony Pictures financed the $175 million movie and will keep all
of the profits it generates. That is a big deal for Sony, which has
been in a grueling box office slump for several years.
A significant element in the downturn of its motion picture
business this decade was 2012's "The Amazing Spider-Man" and 2014's
"The Amazing Spider-Man 2," which disappointed fans and
underperformed at the box office.
"This is a triumphant return" and "really gratifying," said
Sony's president of marketing and distribution Josh Greenstein.
2002's "Spider-Man" was one of Sony's most successful movies
ever and inspired dozens of superhero movies from competitors
seeking similar success. That original run of films reached its
apex with 2007's "Spider-Man 3," which opened to $151 million
domestically and grossed $891 million worldwide.
To try to restore the character to his former glory, Sony joined
with Marvel, which is behind many of the most successful superhero
movies in recent years including "Avengers," "Captain America:
Civil War" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2."
Marvel produced the movie for Sony and integrated Spider-Man
with its superhero universe. The new version of the character,
played by British actor Tom Holland, first appeared in last year's
blockbuster "Civil War." "Homecoming" featured Robert Downey Jr.'s
"Iron Man" as a supporting character.
Marvel provided its producing services for free, save for a
small compensation if the film grosses more than $750 million
globally, as looks likely. But Disney could still benefit greatly
from "Homecoming's" success as it owns all merchandise rights to
Spider-Man. More successful movies typically spur more toy
sales.
To sell "Homecoming" to audiences, Sony's advertisements
emphasized the new Spider-Man's youth and playful attitude, in
comparison to the more serious tone of the "Amazing Spider-Man"
films, as well as his partnership with Iron Man.
Spider-Man will next appear in a pair of "Avengers" sequels from
Marvel and the two studios are working on a follow-up to
"Homecoming" scheduled for 2019.
July has brought good news to Sony. It successfully opened one
of summer's few mid-budget dramas, "Baby Driver," last week. This
weekend the Edgar Wright-directed movie's box office sales dropped
a modest 38% to $12.75 million, bringing its total domestic gross
to a healthy $56.9 million.
Write to Ben Fritz at ben.fritz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 09, 2017 13:47 ET (17:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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