Sony's Spider-Man 2 continued to excel at the box office, earning more over the four-day July Fourth weekend than all the other films in the top ten combined.  Spider-Man 2 grabbed $115.4 million over the weekend and has amassed an amazing $180.1 million since it opened on Wednesday, totally smashing the opening week record held by the Matrix Reloaded, which earned $158.2 million during its first week of release. 

Spider-Man 2 is almost certain to become the fastest ever to reach $200 million and eclipse the 9-day record of the original Spider-Man film.

Spider-Man 2 also now holds the record for the top five-day total with a gross of $152.6 million compared to the previous champion Shrek 2's $129 million. 

Speaking of Shrek 2, which is the film that Spider-Man 2 will have to overtake in order to become the top grossing film of 2004, Dreamworks' cartoon money machine just keeps on going -- dropping only 22.7% in its seventh week of release and earning an additional $7.9 million to bring its total to $410 million.  In spite of its brilliant start, Spider-Man 2 will have to demonstrate considerable 'legs' to catch the not-so-jolly green ogre.  But so far Spider-Man 2 has been performing above expectations and audiences have been giving the film high marks with 90% of respondents rating the movie as 'good' or 'excellent.'  Spider-Man 2's demographics are also promising.   With just 52% of the audience male and only 55% of the crowds under 25, Spider-Man 2's appeal obviously extends well beyond the traditional male-dominated comic book audience.