?Spider-Man 2? creates box office record in India

[Movie22]

Spider-Man has returned to Indian shores to crack box office records!

Vikramjit Roy of Columbia Tristar told IANS that collections of "Spider-Man 2" have broken the previous record.

The big budget feature film debuted in India with a gargantuan Rs.78 million for the Friday-Sunday period. The figure smashes the previous opening weekend record of Rs.53 million set in May 2002 by "Spider-Man", with a whopping 46.5 percent more!

Swinging his way to theatres on 303 prints across 325 screens and two IMAX screens, the friendly neighbourhood superhero is creating history in India.

The tickets are now going in black at rates as high as Rs.200 and Rs.350. Also, there are not many Bollywood films this week that attract family viewers, which has helped. Movies like "Julie" and "Asambhav" being adult films, "Spider-Man 2" has struck gold.

"This is an experience you only dream of," says an ecstatic Uday Singh, managing director of Columbia TriStar Films, India.

"This over the top debut goes way beyond our expectations and I am so proud of our team that worked so hard to make the dream come true. One can only describe this as a momentous event," said Singh.

He said: "Backed by a 360 degree marketing campaign, synergy partnerships from the Sony Group Companies and our brand alliances, we took this franchise to a wider audience base. Critical acclaim from the media further helped Spidey spread his web across India."

"As far as the vernacular version goes - we have 170 Hindi prints, 60 Tamil prints and 55 Telugu prints. The dubbed version too has done extremely well both in the metros and smaller centres," Roy told IANS.

In "Spider-Man 2", two years have passed since Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) walked away from his long-time love Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) and decided to take the road to responsibility as Spider-Man.

Peter must face new challenges as he struggles to cope with "the gift and the curse" of his powers while balancing his dual identities as the elusive superhero Spider-Man and life as a college student.

The relationships Peter holds most dear are now in danger as he clashes with the powerful villain "Doc Ock" (Alfred Molina).

"Spider-Man 2" reunites the cast and filmmakers from the first adventure, including Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris and J.K. Simmons, under the leadership of director Sam Raimi.

Joining the ensemble cast are Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius ("Doc Ock"), Daniel Gillies as John Jameson, Vanessa Ferlito as Louise, Dylan Baker as Curt Connors and Donna Murphy as Rosalie Octavius.