Spidey slings $162m
Massive opening in US for Spider-Man: Homecoming
Spider-Man is officially a box office overachiever.
As of Sunday morning, the latest cinematic depiction of the webbed-hero, Spider-Man: Homecoming, was looking at a US$117 million opening (S$162 million).
That's a huge win for Sony, Columbia Pictures and Marvel Studios for the film, which cost roughly US$175 million to produce.
Homecoming banked on the idea that the summer box office was craving a family-friendly superhero movie - Tom Holland plays a high school version of Peter Parker who, at 15 years old, has to prove that he is worthy of being called an Avenger.
And it seems that bet is paying off.
The US$117 million figure is the second largest in Sony Pictures' history, behind Spider-Man 3.
Much attention has been paid to the flick's successful marketing campaign, which heavily featured Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), who serves as Spider-Man's mentor in the film. Michael Keaton plays villain Vulture; Jon Favreau plays Spidey's guardian, Happy Hogan, and Zendaya stars as Michelle Jones ("MJ"), Parker's brainy classmate.
The movie consistently dominated social media in the weeks leading up to its release.
Despite the reliability of superhero movies at the box office, Homecoming could have been seen as a big bet for all parties involved.As audience fatigue has impacted franchises like Transformers and even Despicable Me, the one thing that this summer has proved is that the domestic audience is not yet burnt out on superheroes. - REUTERS
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