Spider-Man Movie vs Star Wars Episode 2 Attack of the Clones

Will Spider-Man Outgross Attack of the Clones? This geek says YES!
© 2002 Guy Malone Paste this, take the poll & comment at
http://www.guymalone.com/poll1.htm

I already have a bet with someone that Spider-Man will out-gross (have higher box-office sales) than Attack of the Clones. After seeing it Friday I knew that the word of mouth will carry it for months even if the critics are split.

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Here's why: Phantom Menace was less than people hoped for (but expectations were unrealistically high) and I think only "sci-fi" folks will rush out to see Episode 2, although it's going to be good. Many more will wait for the video. But Spider-Man already has a much broader audience, dating back to 1962 - 15 years more of the population to draw from without a ten+ year break in building a very solid fan base from the comics - and so far the fans are VERY happy with it (if not everyone).

I'll risk the wrath of Superman and even X-Men fans in saying I think this is THE FIRST comics adaptation to really deliver on the big screen, especially in terms of making the action scenes fit what is already in our minds from the comics (true, it's CGI, but pretty seamless) AND the plot was very faithful to the series. <SPOILER> Putting MJ on that bridge really made me wonder if they were going to go all the way. (I'm sure that only people who knew about Gwen Stacey's death at Green Goblin's hands were really biting their nails on that one, tho.)

Also I saw LOTS of females at the movie. Kirsten Dunst has her own draw (male and female) as does Maguire, but as Peter says "this is a story about a girl" (not a superhero) so romance plays a much larger part than in any SW film (good for attracting women and couples. Women who "get dragged" to it will likely give the okay to their other women friends).

I'd already placed the bet Saturday May 4 when I saw Sunday on Yahoo News that Spider-Man had beaten the all-time 3-day gross record set by Harry Potter (which was also more than SWEp1), and I wasn't counting on that, just on the word of mouth, from fans-to-families. SM got $114 million in 3 days, and Episode 1 got $105 million in 5 days. And look at how many SW fans saw that one three or four times in that period. But no matter how many Star Wars fanatics tell the non-fans Episode 2 is great, they still won't see it. However, if you've ever read a Spider-Man comic and swung thru your hallways (and what boy under 50 hasn't?), this movie delivers!

SO - for posterity, go on record with the above poll, saying which movie will out-gross which this summer. Sign up for my mailing list, and I'll e-mail you the results when the final box office records come in. Let's not forget Matrix 2, MIB2, etc will eat up some dollars later, and only a certain type (us sci-fiers) are going to see them all. My $5 is already down, but find a Spider-phile or Star Wars-phile and start your own local raging controversy. And have a great summer - don't forget to play outdoors!

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