'Spider-Man 3' opens to Rs 19.17 cr at Indian Box-office

Mumbai, May 9 (UNI) Redefining the definition of a blockbuster, ''Spider-Man 3'' created box-office magic as it opened to a record 148 million dollar at the North American Box-office and Rs 19.17 crore at the Indian Box-office over the May 4 to May 6 weekend.

The friendly neighbourhood superhero returned with ''Spider-Man 3'' to Indian shores amidst much fanfare and a tumultuous reception at the box office. Swinging its way to theatres on 588 prints/screens, including 3 IMAX Screens, the film smashed every possible record in the Hollywood category in India, a press release here said.

At the Indian Box office, it had the biggest Opening Weekend for a foreign language film at Rs 19.17 crore. It had the biggest single day collections for a foreign language film in India at Rs 6.64 crore on Friday. On May 5, it grossed Rs 6.19 crore in collection for a foreign language film in India, while on May 6, it grossed Rs 6.34 crore in collection.

The fastest to cross the Rs 10 crore mark in two days, it had the biggest ever release -- 588 prints (English 162, Hindi 261, Tamil 78, Telugu 78, Bhojpuri 6, IMAX 3), the widest release for Hollywood in India.

Outpacing the previous first weekend record holder, ''Casino Royale (Rs 14.94 crore)'' by 28.3 per cent, ''Spiderman 3'' is anticipated to be the biggest grosser of all times for any foreign language film in India.

Sony Pictures Releasing of India managing director Uday Singh said, ''We are off to a dream debut! The summer movie season could not have asked for a better way to begin. The team, worked hard to make this debut an incredible event. Backed by a strong marketing campaign, a first ever dub in Bhojpuri, synergy partnerships from the Sony Group Companies and our brand alliances, we took this franchise to a much wider audience base.'' At the North American Box office, it had a biggest opening in Box-office history -- an unprecedented 148 million dollar, the release said. It had the biggest single day collections of 59.3 million dollar on May 4 and, on May 5, it grossed 51 million dollar.

On Sunday, May 6, it grossed 37.7 million dollar.

''Spiderman 3'' had the biggest ever release, opening across 4,252 theatres. Biggest per-theatre average of 34,807 dollar, the highest ever for a wide release. It had the biggest debut across IMAX Theatres - 4.8 million dollar on 84 IMAX screens in North America, the release said.

At the international Box office, ''Spider-Man 3'' opened in several key nations in Asia and Europe to gross a mammoth 227 million dollar from 16,700 screens in 105 markets, outpacing the previous 1st weekend record holder, ''The Da Vinci Code (154.7 million dollar)''. Twenty markets opened at the No 1. position -- Japan, Korea, Italy, Mexico, China, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, and India. In the UK, ''Spider-Man 3'' grossed 22.9 million dollar, the 3rd biggest three-day opening ever.

Adding North America's bow of 148 million dollar and the International bow of 227 million dollar, ''Spider-Man 3'' generated 375 million dollar, which makes it the highest-grossing worldwide debut of all time, the release said.

UNI