`Amazing Spider-Man` scores record Tuesday opening with $35m debut

New York: The new launch for the Marvel Comics superhero ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ outdid the previous best Tuesday debut of 27.9 million dollars for ‘Transformers’ and swung into action with 35 million dollars domestically on its first day. Box-office trackers had projected that ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ might earn around 120 million dollars in its first six days, through the end of Fourth of July weekend, but its strong start indicates it could do considerably more, the New York Post reported. The original ‘Transformers’, which also opened a day before the 4th of July, went on to do 155.4 million dollars domestically through Fourth of July weekend, which included receipts from Monday night previews before its official Tuesday debut. The opening-day results show that the resilience of the Spider-Man brand, which set box-office records from 2002 to 2007 with the three films directed by Sam Raimi and starring Tobey Maguire as the web-slinging superhero. After a falling out between Raimi and distributor Sony on a fourth film, the franchise started over, with Marc Webb directing and Andrew Garfield slipping into Spider-Man’s red-and-blue suit. ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ retells the story of how a bite from a radioactive spider endows gangly teen Peter Parker with super strength, agility and senses. The film co-stars Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen and Sally Field. While some critics had argued that it was too soon to reboot the franchise, just five years after Raimi and Maguire’s ‘Spider-Man 3’, good reviews for ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ and a solid box-office start should put the carping to rest on the film. The movie also had a strong head-start overseas last week with about 50 million dollars in a handful of international markets. ANI