'Spider-Man 3' a monster at movie theaters

In the movie "Spider-Man 3," the web-slinging hero has three serious opponents — the "New Goblin," a k a his former best friend Harry Osborn (James Franco); the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church); and Venom (Topher Grace).

At the box office, "Spidey" faced virtually no competition — including the previous three weekends' No. 1 film, "Disturbia." Reviews were mixed at best, but for a film like this, what does that matter?

So why was anyone surprised that "Spider-Man 3" broke all sorts of box-office records? The film made $151 million in its first three days of business, beating last year's opening for "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" by more than $15 million. And on its opening day, it made close to $60 million, with a per-screen average of $35,500 — the highest in movie history. It also was the fastest film to break $100 million in ticket sales (a record shared with the second "Pirates" film).

To put things into context, by the time its opening weekend was over, the movie was already in the top 150 biggerst moneymakers of all-time. And the additional $230 million it took in overseas already guarantees a profit for the film that cost $250 million-plus to make.

That also makes "Spider-Man 3" the early summer movie to beat. Some analysts have predicted the box-office champ might be "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," but that movie will come into theaters that are already playing "Spider-Man 3" and "Shrek the Third." So to topple "Spidey's" box-office hold may be tricky, if not impossible.

Not too surprisingly, Sony officials have already confirmed that fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh "Spider-Man" films are in development. Sony co-chairman Amy Pascal said the opening weekend grosses were "beyond our dreams," adding, "I'm going to keep making 'Spider-Man' movies until someone stops me."

The big question is whether director Sam Raimi and actors Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst will be back. All three were contracted for just the first three films.

GRAPES TASTING SOUR? Among the critics taking shots at "Spider-Man 3" was George Lucas. The "Star Wars" filmmaker complained to several media outlets that "Spidey 3" comes up lacking in the story and plot department.

"It's a silly movie. ... There just isn't much there," Lucas told a Fox News reporter. "Once you take it all apart, there's not much story, is there?"

That's a strange complaint about a film that most critics (including yours truly) have suggested is OVERplotted. Also, it's hypocritical for Lucas to attack another filmmaker's work, given his silly, sometimes story-deficient "Star Wars" prequels.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com