July Box Office Record Hangs on Spidey
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Thanks largely to the sensational ticket sales for “Spider-Man 2,” July receipts at the North American box office reached record levels, surpassing the $1.3 billion mark for the first time.
“Spider-Man 2” picked up $335.8 million, marking the first time a film grossed more than $300 million in July. And unlike July 2003, where aggregate box office sales hit a record high but admissions were lackluster at best, this year’s estimated ticket unit total breaks a long-standing record for the month.
The national box office tally in July was $1.32 billion, up a solid 10% from the $1.2 billion generated in July 2003, which was the previous high for the period. In July of last year, Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” were the box office leaders.
Since ticket-price inflation has been minimal in the past year, the higher grosses have translated into more attendance. Estimated admissions last month came in at a record 213 million — up 6% from last year’s 200.7 million.
The new high in admissions was up less than 1% from the previous record for the period, which was 212 million, registered in July 1994. That was the summer of Paramount’s “Forrest Gump” and Disney’s “The Lion King,” two films that went on to gross more than $300 million each during their runs — an unprecedented achievement at the time.
It was a very top-heavy month at the box office as the blockbusters drew the lion’s share of the wealth. The aggregate for the 10 was a record $978.6 million, a hefty 12% higher than last year’s $874.6 million. The sizzling-hot month was driven more by new product than holdovers, with six of the top-10 debuting during the survey period.
Projections for box office and admissions come from The Hollywood Reporter’s national survey, which this year comprised the five weeks ending July 29.
After Sony’s “Spider-Man 2,” two films battled it out for the second spot, with Lions Gate’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” just edging out 20th Century Fox’s “I, Robot,” with $106.2 million (of its cumulative $106.3 million) and $104.7 million, respectively. The fourth slot went to DreamWorks’ “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” with $75 million, followed by Universal’s “The Bourne Supremacy” with a stout $74.7 million in seven days.
New Line’s “The Notebook” ($65.6 million) was next, with Fox’s “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” ($61.8 million of its $110.5 million total) and Sony’s “White Chicks” ($60.2 million of a cumulative $67.7 million) following. In the ninth slot was DreamWorks’ “The Terminal” ($47.5 million of its $75.4 million take to date), followed by Disney’s “King Arthur” ($47.1 million) to round out the top 10.
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