DreamWorks' SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON couldn't win the holiday box office race, but it came in a respectable fourth. Facing up to the challenge of STAR WARS: EPISODE II "ATTACK OF THE CLONES" second weekend and the tenacious hold of SPIDER-MAN, SPIRIT trotted into fourth place with $23M and generally good reviews, meaning this might be one traditionally-animated pony you can bet on for a solid summer box office. In twelve days EPISODE II, with visual effects by ILM, has flown past the $200M mark, winning the box office this holiday weekend with a four-day total of $61.2M and a cume of $201.3M. SPIDER-MAN, with visual effects by Sony Imageworks, posted a strong second place finish in its fourth week of release, earning $35.8M and breaking the $300M mark with a total gross of $333.6M. Ticket sales for the (U.S.) Memorial Day holiday weekend (Friday-Monday) totaled $193M, making it the highest grossing weekend in theater history, topping last year's $186.5M Memorial Day weekend take. Box office information obtained from yahoo.com.
Spirit: A Longshot Or A Sure Bet? J. Paul Peszko looks at the risks that DreamWorks conquered by bringing Spirit to the screen.
