''Spider-Man 2'' continues to break records

Guess what? ”Spider-Man 2” made a ton of money at the box office this weekend. Just how much, and which records did it break? Okay, this gets a little complicated, so read carefully.

Over the four-day holiday weekend, the sequel grossed $115.8 million, according to studio estimates. Add to that the $64.3 million it earned in its first two days (last Wednesday and Thursday), and its six-day total is a phenomenal $180.1 million, absolutely trouncing the previous six-day record-holder, ”The Matrix Reloaded,” which grossed what now seems like a paltry $146.7 million last year. For comparison’s sake, the first ”Spider-Man” raked in $144.2 million in its first six days, though in fairness it didn’t have the benefit of a holiday weekend. ”Spider-Man 2” also broke the original’s record for biggest opening day, with $40.4 million. So the first ”Spider-Man” still holds the three-day opening record with $114.8 million, but there’s no one who can be anything but impressed with these numbers. And the record breaking should continue, as ”Spider-Man 2” will likely cross the $200 million mark by Wednesday (its eighth day of release). If it does, that’ll beat ”Spider-Man’s” nine-day benchmark.

”Fahrenheit 9/11” also posted strong numbers this weekend, doubling its theater count and grossing another $21 million, bringing its two-week total to an astonishing $60.1 million (remember folks, this is a documentary). Other holdovers took substantial tumbles: Comparing the three-day portions of the weekends, ”White Chicks” fell 54 percent, earning $12 million over the extended period, while ”Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” plummeted 58 percent to $10.5 million. And ”The Notebook” and ”The Terminal” were in a dead heat for fifth place, grossing $10.3 million and $10.2 million, respectively.

But the week’s other big winner was surely ”Shrek 2,” which delivered another $7.9 million, bringing its total to $410.2 million, surpassing, of all things, ”Spider-Man” to become the No. 5 top-grossing film of all time. Take that, webslinger!