"Spider-Man" Rules Record 2002
By Joal Ryan
Entertainment - E! Online
Tue Dec 31, 4:35 PM ET
It was a good year to be a Jedi, a bad year to be a Federation officer. A good year to be Greek, a bad year to be Eddie Murphy. But, most of all, it was a very, very good year to be an arachnid-bit geek.
Spider-Man, starring Tobey Maguire (news) as a teen transformed by a souped-up spider, easily snared the 2002 box-office crown, grossing nearly $406 million through Sunday.
The movie led the way for a year at the multiplex that can best be described as boffo. How boffo? Consider:
By the time the New Year's bubbly goes gone flat, Hollywood flicks will have combined to gross an all-time high $9.37 billion domestically, according to estimates released by the box-office tabulating firm Exhibitor Relations. The total reflects a more than 12 percent increase over last year's then-record $8.35 billion haul.
Actual attendance also was up--nearly 9 percent--with 1.6 billion tickets sold. That's the most admissions since 1958, when the only entertainment options were the 12-channel TV dial or the, um, fireplace.
Through Sunday, a record 22 films had crossed the $100 million mark--with fully seven surpassing $200 million. The previous best was set in 2000, when 20 flicks registered in nine figures. It's expected that Catch Me If You Can, which got half way to the magic mark in its first week in release over Christmas, will bring 2002's tally of $100 million (or more) films to 23.
In a year plagued by financial news that ranged from lousy to extra-lousy, how did Hollywood buck the trend? According to the Industry's top lobbyist, the answer is elemental.
"When you make a movie that a lot of people want to see, you will do well," Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, says in USA Today. "We're making movies that a lot of people want to see."
Specifically, a lot of people wanted to see sequels. Half of the top 10 moneymakers were franchise players: Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones ($310 million); Harry Potter (news - web sites) and the Chamber of Secrets ($240 million); Austin Powers in Goldmember ($213 million); The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ($200 million); and, Men in Black II ($192 million).
For those who prize what passes for originality in Hollywood, the good news is that the other half of the top 10 were not sequels: Spider-Man; Signs ($227 million); My Big Fat Greek Wedding ($222 million); Ice Age ($176 million); and, Scooby-Doo ($153 million).
While Spider-Man made the most money, My Big Fat Greek Wedding made the best return on investment. The romantic comedy's big, fat gross came after backers like Tom Hanks (news) and wife Rita Wilson (news) scrounged up a little, skinny $5 million budget. (By comparison, Sony, the year's top-grossing studio, spent nearly $140 million to bring Spidey to the big screen.)
The anti-Greek Wedding was The Adventures of Pluto Nash. The Eddie Murphy (news) outerspace comedy with the out-of-sight $100 million budget made just $4.4 million after Warner Bros. released the film from the vault where it had been collecting dust for more than a year.
Other Murphy misadventures at the 2002 box office: Showtime, the buddy cop flick with Robert De Niro (news) (made for $85 million; making just $38 million), and I Spy, the TV-inspired buddy action flick with Owen Wilson (news) (made for $70 million; making just $33 million).
Big-budget, big-name bombs not starring Eddie Murphy included: Hart's War, Bruce Willis (news)' World War II misfire ($70 million budget; $19 million gross); Windtalkers, Nicolas Cage (news)'s World War II misfire ($115 million budget; $41 million gross); and K-19: The Widowmaker, Harrison Ford (news)'s Cold War misfire ($100 million budget; $35 million gross). With its modest $10 million budget, Madonna (news - web sites) and hubby/director Guy Ritchie (news)'s Swept Away was never a big-ticket project. Still, we're guessing investors hoped for more than the $600,000 the flick "grossed" at the domestic box office.
Disney's Treasure Planet proved animated flicks can bomb just as badly as live action ones. The 'toon, produced for $140 million, had made just $33 million through Sunday.
While the Star Wars franchise continued to roll, the Star Trek franchise got rolled. Star Trek: Nemesis, the Federation gang's 10th big-screen adventure, has beamed up just $34 million since opening December 13. Barring a late surge, Nemesis will go down as the lowest-grossing Trek movie ever--yes, even stinkers like Star Trek V: The Final Frontier managed $55 million at the Stateside box office.
Here's a rundown of 2002's top 25 box-office moneymakers, through Sunday, per Exhibitor Relations:
1. Spider-Man, $406 million
2. Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones, $310 million
3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, $240 million
4. Signs, $227 million
5. My Big Fat Greek Wedding, $222 million
6. Austin Powers in Goldmember, $213 million
7. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, $200 million
8. Men in Black 2, $192 million
9. Ice Age, $176 million
10. Scooby-Doo, $153 million
11. Die Another Day, $147 million
12. Lilo & Stitch, $146 million
13. XXX, $141 million
14. The Santa Clause 2, $135 million
15. Minority Report, $132 million
16. The Ring, $127 million
17. Mr. Deeds, $126 million
18. Sweet Home Alabama, $125 million
19. The Bourne Identity, $121 million
20. The Sum of All Fears, $118 million
21. 8 Mile, $114 million
22. Road to Perdition, $104 million
23. Panic Room, $95 million
24. Red Dragon, $93 million
25. The Scorpion King, $90 million
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