MOVIEGOERS LURED INTO WEB AGAIN 'SPIDER-MAN 3' OUTPACES GROSSES OF FIRST TWO IN FRANCHISE.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ

Staff Writer

"Spider-Man 3" kept a tight web around the wallets of moviegoers this weekend, catching a domestic box office gross of $60 million that brought its 10-day total to $242 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Receipts for the Sony Pictures Entertainment release fell 60 percent from its historic $151 million opening, but the picture was still outpacing grosses of the first two films in the franchise.

"Spider-Man" in 2002 had taken in $223 million at this point while 2004's "Spider-Man 2" was at $225 million.

"The number (the first) weekend was so incredible, you had to figure we were going to see a more significant drop to bring it into the real world," said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of domestic distribution.

"Still, $60 million would be a huge opening for most pictures. We feel good about it."

Sony also had reason to feel good about the film's international grosses, which amounted to $85.4 million over the weekend for a 10-day foreign total of $379.59 million. Worldwide, "Spider-Man 3" has grossed $622 million and is on pace to become the highest-grossing film of the franchise.

Debuting in a distant second place was Fox's "28 Weeks Later," which took in an estimated $10 million in its first three days. That bodes well for the film, due to recoup its production budget by next weekend.

"We're very happy," said Bert Livingston, Fox's general sales manager. "It's not like your normal horror picture. I think it will have good word of mouth and hang in there."

Debuting in a lackluster third place was "Georgia Rule," a drama distributed by Universal Pictures that stars Jane Fonda, Felicity Huffman and Lindsay Lohan. The movie, only the second one starring Fonda since 1990, took in just $5.9 million. For as much as Lohan is in the headlines for her partying and other antics, her notoriety does not translate into movie ticket sales. Her last real hit movie was 2004's "Mean Girls."

Most of the ticket sales for "Georgia" were due to Fonda's fan base -- with 81 percent women and girls in the audience and one-third of them older than age 50. Fifty-three percent of the moviegoers polled said they came to see Fonda.

Two other new wide releases fared far worse than "Georgia." The Lionsgate comedy "Delta Farce," starring Larry the Cable Guy, made a meager $3.5 million. The romantic comedy "The Ex," starring Zach Braff, Amanda Peet and Jason Bateman, debuted in 12th place with a barely-there gross of $1.3 million, according to estimates from MGM, which is distributing The Weinstein Co. film.

Final box office grosses will be released today.

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released today.

1. "Spider-Man 3," $60 million.

2. "28 Weeks Later," $10 million.

3. "Georgia Rule," $5.9 million.

4. "Disturbia," $4.8 -million.

5. "Delta Farce," $3.5 million.

6. "Fracture," $2.9 million.

7. "The Invisible," $2.2 million.

8. "Hot Fuzz," $1.7 million.

9. "Next," $1.604 million.

10. "Meet the Robinsons," $1.6 million.

-- Associated Press

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