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A big week for Spider-Man 3

The summer blockbuster season began last night as Spider-Man 3 had its world premiere in Tokyo.

With a rumoured budget of $258 million and a global marketing spend in the region of $100 million a lot is riding on this film.

Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura of the AFP writes:

The third and possibly final installment of the widely popular “Spider-Man” films made its world debut in Tokyo Monday in a rare move for Hollywood as it sees more opportunities overseas. Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and other stars of the movie attended the gala red-carpet premiere of “Spider-Man 3,” the latest chapter in the adventures of the web-spinning comic hero.

The potential summer blockbuster opens in Japan and other major Asian markets on May 1, three days before the United States. It will also come out on May 1 in some European countries including France and Germany. It marks the first time that Sony Pictures, despite its Japanese parent company, has chosen to debut such a high-profile film in Japan, the world’s second-largest box office.

“Of course, we are looking to boost our proceeds in Japan,” said a Sony official in Tokyo. Last year domestic fare overtook Hollywood movies in revenue at the Japanese box office for the first time in 20 years thanks to a growing crop of high-quality Japanese productions.

Analysts said Sony’s decision to launch the new “Spider-Man” in Japan was primarily symbolic as it will be out within days elsewhere in the world and can be expected to be a hit in the United States.

I think the the success of this film is pretty much assured. The question is really how big it is going to be. Given that spring releases like 300 and Blades of Glory have surpassed expectations to become major hits, the opening numbers for Spidey could be huge.

The first one was a faithful and well crafted comic book adaptation and was the biggest film of 2002. The second film was better – I think it still stands up as one of the best comic book adaptations ever put on screen – and this one looks like it could follow suit.

I’m seeing it this week so I’ll report back with some thoughts soon.

Spider-Man 3 opens in the UK on May 4th

> Official site for Spider-Man 3 and the official blog
> IMDb entry for Spider-Man 3
> The impressive Wikipedia entry for Spider-Man 3 (editing is locked but be careful about spoilers)
> SlashFilm has some QT footage from GermanTV with more Venom