SPIDER-MAN 3 (Sam Raimi; 2007)

[criterionmaster]

Ugh. I watched Leno last night and Tobey McGuire (sp?) was on there, and they showed a clip from Spider-Man 3, so looks like I ended up seeing one. It was when Spider-Man was using his powers in the air without his suit on or something. It looked really cool, but the clip didn't really give much away that I didn't already know, and it was so short, so I am still good.

[slapshot63]

I bet it was the fight between Harry and Pete near the beginning. I've seen that whole fight and it's really freaking awesome!

[slapshot63]

Look what I got tonight:
Here
Another Shot

Me happy!

[criterionmaster]

Jesus, $9 per ticket? Is that just because you got them early, or is that how much you pay every time you see a film?

[slapshot63]

That's how much it is for every evening showing. It's like $6 for the matinee. But it's worth it for that theater. Stadium seating, reclining chairs (slightly), large aisles (no more standing when people go by!), great sound and amazing picture. Yup, it's worth $9 to see SM3 in that theater. I also bought a ticket for my best friend who is coming from Michigan to see it with me (he's a HUGE Spidey fan too)!

[ie]

slapshot63 said:

Look what I got tonight:
Here
Another Shot

Me happy!

You bought a spider? Man, that sucks.

[criterionmaster]

Sam Raimi Confirms Spidey 4, 5 and 6!
Source: Hollywood Saloon

At the Los Angeles press junket today, Spider-Man 3 director Sam Raimi confirmed that Sony Pictures is doing a 4th, 5th and 6th installment of the popular franchise.

We'll have his exact words shortly, but Raimi said that he hasn't had time to think of any involvement and he doesn't want to presume Sony would want him to direct.

He said there has to be a good story to tell and that "it'd be very hard to say goodbye to 'Spider Man.'"

[slapshot63]

ie said:

slapshot63 said:

Look what I got tonight:
Here
Another Shot

Me happy!

You bought a spider? Man, that sucks.

Hehe, when I looked at the pics I thought, "I wonder how many people will realize they're SM3 tickets and not some strange movie called "Mid: Spider"

[ie]

I was just joking around. It was very unlikely that you'd want to talk about a movie called "Mid: Spider" in the Spider-Man 3 thread.

[slapshot63]

ie said:

I was just joking around. It was very unlikely that you'd want to talk about a movie called "Mid: Spider" in the Spider-Man 3 thread.

Oh, I knew that, I was just saying that I also thought of how they didn't put the full title on the ticket.

[criterionmaster]

Spider-Man 3 the Most Expensive Movie Ever?
by Neil Miller
Source: Hollywood Saloon

Of all the places to pick up movie news, I grabbed this off of What Would Tyler Durden Do?, one of my favorite pop culture sites. They are commenting on a report from Radar Online, who is claiming that Spider-Man 3 has cost Sony over $500 million dollars to make. While this really wouldn’t surprise me, it is notable. Here is what the Radar Online report had to say:

As production dragged on into late summer—it had been scheduled to conclude in June—stories about the project’s ballooning budget started popping up all over town. But in the end, even the most hyperbolic of observers may have underestimated the final tab. Industry insiders claim that Sony spent $350 million or more on production alone. With marketing and promotion factored in, the total price tag will approach half a billion dollars—positioning Spider-Man 3 as the most expensive movie of all time. (Cleopatra, the 1963 epic that has long held the title of priciest picture, had an inflation-adjusted budget of $290 million.)

It goes with out saying that you have to spend money to make money, but $500 million? That is a bit excessive. That would make Spider-Man 3 almost 2.5 times more expensive than Spider-Man 2, which grossed $784 million world-wide in 2004. The industry expectations around this latest installment into the Spidey franchise is somewhere around $800 million, so turning a profit is not going to be hard, but one must ask why this film cost so much? Isn’t most of it CG? And with plans for 3 more films, will they continue to become exponentially more expensive?

I don’t predict that this will be the last of the big budget blockbusters for 2007 either. Dreamworks is yet to report how much Michael Bay has spent to bring Transformers to life and Disney is saying that Pirates 3 only cost $200 mil. Combine these two with Rise of the Silver Surfer and we’ve got ourselves over a billion dollars spent on blockbusters this year. The only question that remains is whether Hollywood will see a huge return on it’s multi-billion dollar investment? Beginning May 4 with Spider-Man 3, we shall see…

End of Article.

[criterionmaster]

Ticket Sales for 'Spider-Man 3' Take Off Early

With widespread rumors circulating that Spider-Man 3 has become the most costly movie ever produced, Sony Pictures may be taking some comfort in reports that advance ticket sales for the movie are likely to hit a record. Reuters said today (Tuesday) that online ticket sellers Movietickets.com are reporting that tickets for the movie are selling at three times the rate of Spider-Man 2 and that Fandango.com is selling them at four times the rate. Dozens of showings scheduled for midnight on May 3rd have already sold out, according to the wire service. Meanwhile Radar magazine, citing unnamed industry insiders, reported Monday that Sony spent $350 million to produce the film, a figure disputed by producer Laura Ziskin. "Spider-Man 3 was a super-expensive movie -- the most expensive film we've ever made. But there's no way you can get to $300 million," she told Radar.

End of Article.

Hahah, slapshot helped with this one.

[criterionmaster]

Spidey Already Available in China
source: hollywood saloon

Spider-Man 3 may not be scheduled to debut in U.S. theaters until May 3 (midnight showings), but pirated copies of the movie are already being bootlegged in China, Reuters reported today (Tuesday). The wire service observed that DVD copies of the movie are selling for about one dollar and sport cover art that appears to have been copied from posters widely available online. And, in the Chinese equivalent of chutzpah, there is even a warning on the package against making copies. Meanwhile, Chinese officials today lashed out against the decision by the U.S. to file formal complaints with the World Trade Organization concerning unbridled piracy in China. At a conference in Beijing on intellectual property rights Wu Yi, China's top trade official, said, "These moves [by the U.S.] betray the consensus reached by China and the U.S. to resolve trade issues through dialogue."

End of Article.

[captainofbeef]

Ugh, I hate piracy.

[slapshot63]

Sony is reporting that those DVD's are in fact copies of SM2 being sold as SM3. Who really knows though.

[captainofbeef]

Just sounds like a large company trying to cover up for a leak...

[malicious32dll]

criterionmaster said:

Spidey Already Available in China
source: hollywood saloon

Spider-Man 3 may not be scheduled to debut in U.S. theaters until May 3 (midnight showings), but pirated copies of the movie are already being bootlegged in China, Reuters reported today (Tuesday). The wire service observed that DVD copies of the movie are selling for about one dollar and sport cover art that appears to have been copied from posters widely available online. And, in the Chinese equivalent of chutzpah, there is even a warning on the package against making copies. Meanwhile, Chinese officials today lashed out against the decision by the U.S. to file formal complaints with the World Trade Organization concerning unbridled piracy in China. At a conference in Beijing on intellectual property rights Wu Yi, China's top trade official, said, "These moves [by the U.S.] betray the consensus reached by China and the U.S. to resolve trade issues through dialogue."

End of Article.

uh, no Its not. I've checked all of my usual Russian sites (comon... Russians have everything), as well about 5 private paying torrent sites.... Its not there... I gaurantee you that when a movie is bootlegged on dvd inANY country theres always some dude who uploads a rip early.

[mixed]

I'm seeing it tomorrow! Apparently its a bit of a repetetive fight behemoth though. Yet Im really quite excited

[dontdigonswine]

mixed said:

I'm seeing it tomorrow! Apparently its a bit of a repetetive fight behemoth though. Yet Im really quite excited

Actually, quite the contrary I thought. Too much of Spidey running around with his mask of crying and whining about life. All they needed to do was play Hate Me Today and it would have been perfect. I say, shut up, stop crying and save the world you wuss.

Oh, and the whole way too much going on in one movie definitely applies for this one. Sandman fights for a cliche reason, Venom fights for a not-important-enough-for-the-audience-to-care reason, and they all fight each other because it looks cool?

[PTAhole]

dontdigonswine and critics be damned! This movie RULED! I seem to remember Peter running around whining all the time in the first two movies, too, so I don't know what you though you were getting into. The action was fantastic, and to my relief, I felt they balanced the various plotlines quite well. Fantastic fucking movie. Probably not on par with 2, but definately better than the first one.

[dontdigonswine]

As a Spiderman fan but not quite geek, I will maintain that this was an extremely disappointing film till the end. There was hardly any balance between internal and external struggle, especially at the end battle scene. And seriously, did we need 45ish minutes of Spider-Man 3 the emo-comedy? What does that add to the plot by abandoning the advancement of all villains just to laugh at the fact that Spider-Man has dark hair and a different attitude?

Oh, and one more minor thing... As a Spider-Man fan, where was Venom's tongue???

[malicious32dll]

dontdigonswine said:

As a Spiderman fan but not quite geek, I will maintain that this was an extremely disappointing film till the end. There was hardly any balance between internal and external struggle, especially at the end battle scene. And seriously, did we need 45ish minutes of Spider-Man 3 the emo-comedy? What does that add to the plot by abandoning the advancement of all villains just to laugh at the fact that Spider-Man has dark hair and a different attitude?

Oh, and one more minor thing... As a Spider-Man fan, where was Venom's tongue???

**Hands you a flame retardent suit** Look out, its going to come sooner or later...

[slapshot63]

My review is now up!

[slapshot63]

Despite mixed reviews, it appears Spider-Man 3 is on its way to setting an opening day record at the box office. Reports, including one from Deadline Hollywood, claim the third installment raked in a whopping $59 million on Friday; a number that was helped tremendously by a slew of midnight showings across the country. If those figures hold up, that total soars past the opening day record set last year by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($55.8 million) and clearly puts the film in a position to regain the weekend record from Dead Man's Chest after that film out-grossed the original Spider-Man in 2006. What does this all mean? Nothing, really -- except I wouldn't be surprised if greedy studio execs are now brainstorming ways to get both Spidey and Captain Jack Sparrow in the same movie.

So, what type of numbers are we looking at come Monday morning? How about $140 million? Yes, folks are estimating Spider-Man 3 to gross between $138 and $145 million when it's all said and done. In three days. Not only that, but box office business is already up 60% from the same weekend last year, setting the stage for what most feel will go down as the highest grossing summer in Hollywood history; reports indicate the end result could fall somewhere in the $4.5 billion range. Ridiculous, I say. But now that puts the pressure on Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. The fun thing is that we don't have to wait another year to see if one franchise beats the other; heck, both films are debuting only a few weeks apart. However, from a critical standpoint, the praise was a lot higher for Spider-Man 2 than it was for Dead Man's Chest. Add on to that the fact that there's been more time in between Spidey sequels, allowing fans to really build some hype. Though it's quite obvious that both franchises are critic proof, one does have to wonder whether that statistic will have an affect on Pirates 3 opening weekend.

[criterionmaster]

^Well...

Spidey shatters records with $148M
By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer
Source: Hollywood Saloon



Spider-Man caught just about everyone in his web. The superhero's latest adventure, "Spider-Man 3," smashed box-office records with $148 million in its first three days, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That put it ahead of the previous record debut of $135.6 million set last summer by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

With $59.3 million on opening day Friday, Sony's "Spider-Man 3" broke the single-day box-office record, also held by "Dead Man's Chest" with $55.8 million in its first day.

Since it began rolling out overseas on Tuesday, "Spider-Man 3" has taken in $227 million in foreign markets, bringing the film's worldwide total to $375 million. In just days, the movie has grossed $117 million more than its whopping $258 million production budget.

In just two days, it also nearly matched the $114.8 million opening weekend of 2002's "Spider-Man," which had held the debut record until "Dead Man's Chest" opened.

"Spider-Man 3" reunites director Sam Raimi, who also made the previous two installments, and stars Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

"Sam Raimi is a genius," said Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures co-chairman. "I could have never envisioned this. What I was hoping was we would just break the `Spider-Man 1' record. This is beyond my wildest dream."

The overall box office soared from "Spider-Man 3," with the top-12 movies taking in $176.6 million, up 77 percent from the same weekend a year ago, when "Mission: Impossible III" opened with $47.7 million.

"Spider-Man 3" outdid that movie by $100 million and grossed more in each of its first two days than "Mission: Impossible III" did over the full weekend.

Also among the records smashed by "Spider-Man 3" was a $4.8 million domestic gross at huge-screen IMAX theaters, topping the previous best of $3.6 million set by "300" in March.

Playing in a record 4,252 locations domestically, "Spider-Man 3" averaged a whopping $34,807 a theater.

Domestically, "Spider-Man 3" could enter its second weekend Friday with $200 million already in the bank. The film has the market largely to itself for the next week and a half, with no major competition arriving until DreamWorks Animation's "Shrek the Third" arrives May 18.

With "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and an onslaught of other potential blockbusters following, studio executives predict this could be a record summer for modern Hollywood.

"Spider-Man 3" packed in enormous crowds that were captive audiences viewing trailers for those upcoming flicks.

"If you could imagine the best kickoff to what could be the biggest summer of all time, this is the scenario," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "This will have a ripple effect on audiences exposed to the marketing for all the other summer films."

The gap between "Spider-Man 3" and the No. 2 movie — DreamWorks and Paramount's "Disturbia" at $5.7 million — was larger than any other movie's debut. "Disturbia," which had been No. 1 for three-straight weekends, raised its total to $59.9 million.

The weekend's only other new wide release, the romantic drama "Lucky You" from Warner Bros., bombed with $2.5 million to come in at No. 6.

Directed by Curtis Hanson ("L.A. Confidential"), "Lucky You" stars Drew Barrymore as a budding Las Vegas singer, Eric Bana as skilled gambler and Robert Duvall as his estranged father in a tale set against the World Series of Poker.

Two critically acclaimed films opened well in limited release.

Fox Searchlight's "Waitress," starring Keri Russell as a small-town woman whose flavorful pies are named after the hard knocks in her messy personal life, debuted with $91,470 in four theaters. "Waitress" was written and directed by co-star Adrienne Shelly, who was slain in her Manhattan apartment last fall.

Lionsgate's "Away From Her," the directing debut of actress Sarah Polley, premiered with $56,000 in four theaters. "Away From Her" stars Julie Christie as a woman losing her memory from Alzheimer's and Gordon Pinsent as the devoted husband agonizing over her loss.

Both films expand to more theaters throughout May.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Spider-Man 3," $148 million.

2. "Disturbia," $5.7 million.

3. "Fracture," $3.4 million.

4. "The Invisible," $3.1 million.

5. "Next," $2.8 million.

6. "Lucky You," $2.5 million.

7. "Meet the Robinsons," $2.46 million.

8. "Blades of Glory," $2.3 million.

9. "Hot Fuzz," $2.1 million.

10. "Are We Done Yet?", $1.7 million.

[criterionmaster]

'Spider-Man 3' Is "Silly," Says Lucas
Source: IMDB

George Lucas has joined the major newspaper critics in their negative appraisal of Spider-Man 3. In an interview with FoxNews.com's Roger Friedman, Lucas said, "It's a silly movie. ... There just isn't much there. Once you take it all apart, there's not much story, is there?" Over the weekend, Spider-Man 3 surged ahead of Lucas's Star Wars' episode Revenge of the Sith to take the record for the biggest weekend box-office record. Star Wars was also criticized as being "silly," Lucas noted. "But it wasn't." He also disclosed that he is working on at least two other Star Wars movies for television. "But they won't have members of the Skywalker family as characters. They will be other people of that milieu."

End of Article.

Haha, Lucas is such an idiot. Has he watched his own Episode I? Obviously he must have just forgot about that little pile of shit.

[criterionmaster]