It didn't get great reviews, but "Spider-Man 3" is going into the record books. By the time the dust settles Monday morning, the third film installment of the Marvel series will have taken in $148 million and easily broken the record for biggest box-office opening weekend gross.
"Spidey 3" thus takes the crown from the second "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie, which took in $135,634,554 last July.
It also didn't hurt that Hollywood hasn't released a blockbuster in a very long time. Audiences were parched for entertainment and an 'event' film. Ironically, the next one up is the third "Pirates" installment.