..Gary Dretzka
..Leonard Klady
..Emanuel Levy
..David Poland
..Doug Pratt
..Ray Pride

Weekend Estimates Spider, Spider, Burning Bright Spider-Man 2 was reborn on the 4th of July as it spun to a record breaking $118 million for the weekend. Potential competitors gave the web master a wide berth though several specialized entries fared well in the niches. And Fahrenheit 9/11 doubled its playdates and still managed to record engagement averages of more than $12,000. While the summer has been fraught with disappointments in relation to expectations the high swinging hero is a decided exception. The film shattered a long list of box office records that included the biggest ever Wednesday opening and best grosses for the initial four, five and six days of a run. It should finish its initial romp with about $182 million. Though the rest of the field pales put beside the Marvel comic book creation, there were nonetheless pictures of distinction. Fahrenheit/911 continued to draw crowds with a second place ranking estimated at $22.1 million. Controversy continues to fan the flames of the political indictment that fell by only 28% during the comparative three-day periods. Overall business should climb to close to $220 million for a 30% boast from last weekend and a 63% increase from the 2003 holiday period. The public's taste for non-fiction fare came up short with the 98-screen launch of the patriotic America's Heart and Soul corralling a disappointing $170,000. However, a trio of limited/exclusive release movies all had excellent first steps in the marketplace. The psychological thriller The Clearing entered the marketplace with an estimated $610,000 in 4-days from 56 locations. It was also unquestionably tuneful for the free wheeling Cole Porter bio De-Lovely that sang up a storm in 16 venues of $360,000. And the maiden effort of Warner Independent, Before Sunset, aroused $310,000 from 20 theaters - by Leonard Klady

Weekend Estimates - July 2-5, 2004

Title	Distributor	Gross (average)	% change	Theaters	Cume
Spider-Man 2	Sony	118.2 (28,480)	-	4152	182.5
Fahrenheit 9/11	Lions Gate	22.1 (12,830)	-28%	1725	61.1
White Chicks	Sony	12.2 (4,360)	-53%	2800	47.4
Dodgeball: A True Underdog's Story	Fox	10.1 (3,420)	-56%	2953	86.4
The Terminal	DreamWorks	9.8 (3,530)	-41%	2782	56.2
The Notebook	New Line	9.5 (4,080)	-45%	2323	30.5
Harry Potter & Prisoner of Azkaban	WB	8.1 (2,980)	-46%	2725	225.3
Shrek 2	DreamWorks	7.8 (3,020)	-27%	2609	410.1
Garfield	Fox	3.8 (1,550)	-63%	2458	63.8
Two Brothers	Uni	3.6 (1,660)	0.57	2181	12.6
The Stepford Wives	Par	3.2 (2,190)	-53%	1447	54.4
The Day After Tomorrow	Fox	2.5 (1,670)	-60%	1518	180
The Chronicles of Riddick	Uni	1.8 (1,190)	-70%	1482	54.5
Around the World in 80 Days	BV	4.2 (1,510)	-75%	1271	21.4
Napoleon Dynamite	Fox Searchlight	.71 (4,990)	31%	142	0.95
The Clearing	Fox Searchlight	.61 (10,910)	-	56	0.61
Troy	WB	.58 (1,550)	-55%	375	131
Weekend Total ($500,000+ Films)	-	$210.80	-
% Change (Last Year)	-	63%	-
% Change (Last Week)	-	30%	-
percentage changes are based on 3-day numbers
Also Debuting/Expanding
De-Lovely	MGM	.36 (22,630)	-	16	0.36
Before Sunset	WIP	.31 (15,400)	-	20	0.31
America's Heart and Soul	BV	.17 (1,760)	-	98	0.17