Paramount's highly anticipated "War of the Worlds" invaded 3,908 theaters Wednesday and grossed $21.3 million on its opening day in North America. Day 1 for "War," directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Tom Cruise, proved to be the distributor's best opening day ever and the seventh-biggest Wednesday bow of all time.
"We are thrilled. It's an absolute home run for the studio. It's on the high side of what we were hoping for," Paramount president of distribution Wayne Lewellen said. "Because of Spielberg and Cruise's involvement in the film and the tremendous job of marketing and publicity, there was a tremendous amount of interest in the picture from the public -- and from all four demographic groups." Lewellen noted that 52% were younger than 25, and 54% were male.
Sony's "Spider-Man 2" holds the record for the biggest Wednesday opening of all time, with a staggering $40.4 million, followed by New Line Cinema's "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" with $34.5 million. It's also interesting to note that of all the Wednesday openings with grosses higher than "War," only Newmarket's "The Passion of the Christ" (sixth biggest with $23.6 million) was not a sequel.
As to Paramount's best bow, the distributor's previous biggest opening day was for "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider," which gleaned $18.1 million on a Friday in June 2001. And for a recent comparison, Warner Bros. Pictures' "Batman Begins" pulled in $15.1 million on its Wednesday opening just a few weeks ago, and that included grosses from midnight shows. Lewellen noted that "War" didn't have midnight shows.