'Spider-Man' casts a wide web to top weekend box office
"Spider-Man: Homecoming," Sony's newest addition to the growing library of summertime superhero yarns, spun up an impressive $117 million debut in North American theaters, data showed Monday. It was the third-largest opening weekend of the year, behind "Beauty and the Beast" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2." Sony spent a hefty $175 million to make the film, in a rare deal with Disney-owned rival studio Marvel, but global sales have already surpassed $250 million, according to website boxofficemojo.com. The latest reboot of "Spider-Man" -- which has a 93 percent approval rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website -- stars Tom Holland as a young Peter Parker, mentored by Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man as he takes on the Vulture (Michael Keaton). Last week's No. 1 film, "Despicable Me 3," came in second with a respectable $33.6 million, industry monitor Exhibitor Relations reported. In Universal's latest installment in the animated series, Steve Carell stars as the voice of bad guy-turned-protagonist Gru -- and his twin brother Dru. Kristen Wiig voices Gru's wife Lucy and "South Park" co-creator Trey Parker is evil villain Balthazar Bratt. In third spot was Sony's heist thriller "Baby Driver," with Ansel Elgort ("The Fault in our Stars") starring as a gifted getaway driver who suffers from tinnitus -- ringing in his ears -- forcing him to play music on his iPod to concentrate when behind the wheel. It took in $13 million in its third week. Fourth was "Wonder Woman," at $9.8 million. The Warner Bros. superhero action film stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot as the Amazonian goddess-princess. And in fifth place was "Transformers: The Last Knight" from Paramount, with ticket sales of $6.4 million. The latest episode in that blockbuster series, heavy on visual effects, features actors Mark Wahlberg, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro and Anthony Hopkins. Rounding out the top 10 were: "Cars 3" ($5.4 million) "The House" ($4.8 million) "The Big Sick" ($3.6 million) "47 Meters Down" ($2.7 million) "The Beguiled" ($2.1 million)
