‘SPIDER-MAN’ BREAKS RECORDS ON HOME FRONT

Americans spent millions at movie theaters this weekend but were more interested in inviting a heavily marketed webslinger into their homes, as “Spider-Man,” already the year’s top-grossing film, broke records for a home entertainment release.

It sold an estimated 7 million DVDs and videocassettes Friday, its initial day in stores, and Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment is projecting that 11 million discs and VHS copies will have been sold in North America during its first weekend. That would bring retail revenue for the Tobey Maguire-starring action-adventure to $190 million, an industry record.

“Spider-Man” not only bested Tim Allen’s holiday comedy, “The Santa Clause 2,” which took in an estimated $29 million, but exceeded the $100 million combined total of the top 10 films.

“We did about 20% better than we were hoping,” said Benjamin Feingold, president of Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. The studio estimated that it spent $40 million promoting “Spider-Man.” That does not include additional expenditures by promotional partners, which executives claimed were worth as much as $60 million, but the actual figure is somewhat lower. As a measure of the studio’s high expectations, it has shipped an unprecedented 26 million units to stores in North America -- with about 75% of those units in the DVD format.

About 80% of the copies sold this weekend were on DVD, Feingold said. Feingold said the Motion Picture Assn of America estimates that 41% of a movie’s total revenues comes from home entertainment -- a category that is up 21% for the first six months of this year.

The minimum advertised retail price for the DVD is $19.95 and $15.95 for VHS. Wholesale prices for the industry as a whole range from an estimated $14 to $18, and some dealers receive volume discounts, industry sources said. The bulk of the wholesale figure, less the cost of manufacturing and distribution, goes to the studio.

“Spider-Man” broke the one-day home entertainment sales records held by Disney/Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” which was released Sept. 17.

The computer-animated feature sold 5 million combined units on its first day In its first week, sales reached 11 million copies.Last November, DreamWorks’ animated film “Shrek” broke all the sell-through figures from the past six years, selling more than 7 million VHS and DVD units in its first three days of release, generating $110 million at retail.

No title has yet to break “The Lion King’s” VHS record. In pre-DVD 1995, the Disney animated classic sold 20 million videocassettes in its first week.

Breaking records is nothing new for “Spider-Man.” Last May, the film scored the biggest opening weekend in Hollywood history, raking in $114.8 million. To date, “Spider-Man” has garnered more than $800 million worldwide in box office receipts.

The sequel, which reunites director Sam Raimi and Maguire, is scheduled to start filming early next year.