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"The Matrix Reloaded" Sets New Box Office Records!
5/16/2003 |
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"The Matrix Reloaded" set the record for the highest grossing opening day ever! Making $42.5 million domestically on Thursday (May 15).
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Zap2it.com Reports: Smashing "Spider-Man's" opening day numbers, "The Matrix Reloaded" has become the record-holder for the highest grossing opening day ever, raking in $42.5 million domestically on Thursday (May 15).
"Reloaded's" numbers also broke the record set by "Star Wars: Episode 1 - Attack of the Clones'" of the biggest Thursday opening ever of $30,141,417 when it opened on May 16, 2002.
The film is only the second to earn more than $40 million in a single day; "Spider-Man's" second-day gross is the only other film when it pulled in $43.6 million.
At this rate, "Reloaded" should easily beat "Hannibal's" record for the best opening weekend for an R-rated film with $58 million, and its chances of beating "Spider-Man's" best opening weekend ever record of $114.8 million are appearing more and more likely.
"I'm not prepared to put any limits on this film," Exhibitor Relations President Paul Dergarabedian tells Zap2it.com. "At first we thought with the R-rating that it might mitigate its potential box office, but as we see from the Thursday numbers that didn't happen so we're just expecting a really big weekend."
Dergarabedian attributes a lot of the film's success to Warner Bros.' unique marketing strategy.
"I think Warner Bros.' multi-tiered strategy has really paid off in a big way with the 'Animatrix' short films, the video games and just the traditional marketing of the trailers and the poster one-sheets and all of that," he says. "The awareness was incredibly high on this film. I don't know if there was anyone who didn't know it was coming out this weekend."
If "Reloaded" does manage to beat "Spider-Man" it could change the way studios look at R-rated films.
"['Reloaded'] sets a new standard for R-rated film and how they can perform in today's society," says Dergarabedian. "It was thought that the R-rating was the kiss of death; certainly it's not if you have the right film."
"Spider-Man" pulled in $39.4 in its first day, Friday May 3, 2002, $43.6 million on Saturday and $31.8 on Sunday, according to Exhibitor Relations.
Thursday's box office figure for "Reloaded" includes screenings that started late Wednesday night across the country. It is estimated that the film made $5 million at the 10 p.m. screenings, crushing the previous $3 million record for a late-night opening set by "Jurassic Park" a decade ago.
George Lucas originated the Thursday night opening, telling Zap2it it was "for the fans, because it is a day before the big crush, and the fans are more likely to go out and see it first." The common thought is that opening a day early ends up hurting overall box office weekend numbers by siphoning off audiences, but that doesn't seem to be the case for this widely anticipated sequel.
With tickets selling at their current rate, which the Internet movie service Fandango cites as four tickets every second, "Spider-Man's" record could easily be broken on Friday.
Released in 1999, "The Matrix" grossed $456 million internationally.
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