Chic, IL Will it beat Spiderman?

OK, three years ago it was will Episode I beat Titanic? But now things have changed - can a sequel beat a popular new film? Thesummer of 1999 most of the studios stay far awa from competition with Star Wars, but this year is much more crowded - will that hurt?

Or on the other hand, is Spiderman just an indication of how eager audiences are for entertainment and will AOTC actually open stronger than Spiderman (and hence Episode I?)

 

In terms of Episode II actually beating the opening weekend gross of SPIDERMAN, it's not likely to happen, but that's not because of quality. It's because Lucas has limited the amount of screens STAR WARS can show on.

If I am remembering correctly, STAR WARS is opening on about 1,000 fewer screens than SPIDERMAN. Less showtimes means less money, translating to less opening weekend gross. In fact, I believe one of E! online's reporters asked Lucas about beating SPIDERMAN and Lucas' response was, "How can we? We're on fewer screens."

However, just because it may not open as big as SPIDERMAN does not mean STAR WARS will come in second overall. I expect ATTACK OF THE CLONES to actually surpass the total gross for PHANTOM MENACE, despite Lucas' claim that he expects each successive episode to make less money than the last.

Paul

 

Well, it's not gonna break any fast-rising records that Spider-Man set, but AOTC will probably remain in the theaters longer, and make more money over the course of its run. I think that limited digital screens will work in AOTC's favor here... a lot of people who were forced to watch the movie on film, due to limited DLP tickets, will go back to see it in digital at some point. So there will probably be more long-term repeat viewing than Spider-Man will get.

That's my guess, anyway.

 

Actually, it's four days beat Spiderman's three - not bad considering it was on many fewer screens.