'Spider-Man' dominates weekend, holdovers perform solidly

Capping a stellar first week, "The Amazing Spider-Man" dominated the weekend, grossing $65 million Friday to Sunday, bringing its six-day total to $140 million.

The film has earned $140 million to date.

The reboot has also done very well overseas, grossing an addition $201 million in foreign markets, for a worldwide total of $341 million.

The R-rated comedy from director Seth MacFarlane, "Ted," continues to defy expectations, bringing home a very solid $32 million in its second weekend for a 10-day total of $120 million.

Pixar's "Brave" is also holding up well, grossing $20.1 million in is third weekend for a total of $174 million.

Oliver Stone's "Savages," the only one of this week's debuting films to wait for Friday, earned a rather pedestrian $16 million over the weekend.

"Magic Mike" rounded out the top five with $15.6 million for a $72.7 million total.

The concert film "Katy Perry: Part of Me" had to settle for eighth place, grossing $7.1 million for the weekend. The movie, which opened Thursday, has grossed $10.2 million to date on a budget of $12 million. Despite the small opening compared to its fellow newcomers, "Part of Me" is already number eight on the highest grossing concert films list, only $110,000 behind "U2 3D."

Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" had another solid weekend in semi-wide release, taking home another $4.6 million, good enough for ninth place on the weekend. It only dropped five percent from its take from last weekend. It's now the director's second highest grossing film ever with $26.8 million, although it has a steep climb to reach "The Royal Tenenbaums," which earned $52 million in 2001.

Another auteur director saw his latest film get an expansion with Woody Allen's "To Rome with Love" expanding to 800 theaters, earning $3.5 million and 10th place.

The complete list of the weekend's top 10 grossing films is:

1. "The Amazing Spider-Man," $65 million (Total: $140 million)
2. "Ted," $32.5 million (Total: $120.2 million)
3. "Brave," $20.1 million (Total: $174.5 million)
4. "Savages," $16.1 million (New)
5. "Magic Mike," $15.6 million (Total: $72.7 million) 
6. "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection," $10.2 million (Total: $45.8 million)
7. "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted," $7.7 million (Total: $196 million)
8. "Katy Perry: Part of Me," $7.1 million (Total: $10.2 million) 
9. "Moonrise Kingdom," $4.6 million (Total: $26.8)  
10. "To Rome with Love," $3.5 million (Total: $5.6 million)

Katy Perry no match for 'Spider-Man' at the box office

With three films debuting on different days this week, "Katy Perry: Part of Me" opened Thursday to a disappointing fifth place finish for the day, bringing in less than a fifth of what "The Amazing Spider-Man" grossed on its fourth day of release.

The film grossed $3 million on Thurday.

The concert film took home $3.1 million on Thursday compared to the $15.8 million haul from "Spider-Man." The superhero reboot had grossed $75 million in its first four days, with the traditional weekend still to go.

"Part of Me" was also behind "Ted" with $8 million, "Brave" with $4.9 million and "Magic Mike" with $4.5 million.

The film will also have to contend with the R-rated drug drama "Savages" from director Oliver Stone, which opened today. Neither movie is expected to come close to "Spider-Man."

'Spider-Man' rules over Fourth of July box office

"The Amazing Spider-Man" dominated the Fourth of July holiday, grossing $23.3 million on Wednesday after debuting Tuesday with a record-breaking $34.1 million.

The film earned $34 million Wednesday.

The reboot's first-day haul was the highest Tuesday opening ever, topping the original "Transformers," which grossed $27.8 million in 2007. The film's Wednesday take was the second highest non-opening Wednesday ever, this time falling behind "Transformers," which grossed $29 million on its second day.

The fast start puts "The Amazing Spider-Man" on track to have a very solid first weekend, when it will face the additional competition of "Katy Perry's Part of Me" and director Oliver Stone's "Savages."

In second place for Wednesday was last weekend's headliner, "Ted," which actually fell slightly from Tuesday with $8 million.

Pixar's "Brave" and "Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection," on the other hand, both benefitted from the mid-week holiday, bringing home $6.4 million and $3.1 million respectively, both double-digit percentage point increases.

Showing R-ratings and the Fourth of July aren't necessarily a good mix, "Magic Mike" also dropped from Tuesday to Wednesday, grossing $3 million, and rounding out the top five.

Disney planning two Marvel film releases during summer of 2014

Apparently in response to Columbia Picture's announcement last Friday that the sequel to next summer's "The Amazing Spider-Man" will open the 2014 blockbuster season, Disney, parent company of Marvel Comics, has laid claim to two other summer 2014 dates.

According to Deadline, Disney has set release dates for as-yet-unannounced Marvel films on May 16, 2014, and June 27, 2014.

Disney is making plans for 2014.

The film rights to "Spider-Man," like the "X-Men," were not included in Disney's purchase of Marvel and are under the control of Columbia and Fox respectively. Paramount has been releasing the Marvel self-produced films which began with 2008's "Iron Man," but Disney bought the rights to future projects, beginning with next year's "The Avengers."

Disney already has their 2013 arsenal planned, with "Iron Man 3" set for May 3, 2013, and "Thor 2" on July 26, 2013.

The only other film set for the summer of 2014 had been Dreamworks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon 2" on June 20, but included in today's announcement was that Pixar will release a film on May 16, although what that might be is unknown.

'Catching Fire' will blaze into theaters Thanksgiving 2013

There's no time like the present to plan ahead. At least that seems to be the thinking in Hollywood these days.

The sequel will be released Nov. 22, 2013

Lionsgate announced today that "Catching Fire,"  the second film in "The Hunger Games" series, will be released Nov. 22, 2013. The first movie, which is still filming with director Gary Ross, won't hit theaters under March 23, 2012.

The films are based on the best-selling books by Suzanne Collins which include "The Hunger Games," "Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay."

The Hollywood Reporter quoted Lionsgate co-COO and Motion Picture Group president Joe Drake saying, "The magical thing about 'The Hunger Games' trilogy is that the books have such a vastly broad appeal. The stories truly offer something for everyone, and the period around the Thanksgiving weekend is such an opportunity for families and friends to make an event of going to the movies."

It was reported in June that Lionsgate had included options in the all of the actors' contracts for a possible fourth film should the studio decide to split the final book in two, following the trend set by the "Harry Potter" and "Twilight" franchises.

At the time I said I wasn't convinced "Mockingjay" really needs to be spread over two movies, but having seen the success of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," I'm more open to the idea. Still, a final decision won't be made until the studio sees how well the returns are for the first film.

This news comes on the heels of Columbia Picture's announcement that the sequel to next summer's "The Amazing Spider-Man" will be released May 2, 2014.

'The Amazing Spider-Man' sequel gets 2014 release date

It's just shy of 11 months until the release of Columbia Picture's "The Amazing Spider-Man," but the studio has already set the date for its sequel: May 2, 2014.

The reboot debuts July 3, 2012.

The reboot stars Andrew Garfield ("The Social Network") in the title role and is directed by Marc Webb ("500 Days of Summer").

The sequel is the second film to be given a summer 2014 date after Dreamworks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon 2," which is set for release on June 20, 2014.

Like the "X-Men" films, "The Amazing Spider-Man" is not produced by Marvel's own studio, now under the wing of Disney. The sequel, however, will be stealing the first weekend of May, which has become the unofficial start to the blockbuster season and one which Marvel has had almost exclusive control.

"Iron Man" began the trend in 2008, followed by "Iron Man 2" in 2010 and "Thor" this year, while "The Avengers" debuts on May 4, 2012, and "Iron Man 3" on May 3, 2013.

In 2009, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" debuted on May 1, and in 2007, "Spider-Man 3" was released on May 4. So by 2014, a Marvel property--whether actually produced by them or not--will have kicked off the summer blockbuster season for eight straight years.