From Variety via Yahoo!:

'Clones' Poised for Box Office Assault
Fri May 17, 6:43 AM ET
By Carl DiOrio

Showings of George Lucas' "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" sold out in many venues on Thursday, including many midnight presentations of the latest franchise prequel. That supports pre-release projections that the 20th Century Fox space epic will rocket past Sony's rival box office phenomenon "Spider-Man" this weekend -- though no one expects "Clones" to outdistance the record $114.8 million "Spidey" opening two weeks ago.

"Attack of the Clones" bowed Thursday on 6,000 screens in 3,161 theaters domestically, including 63 digital screens. Worldwide plans also include near-day-and-date "Clones" bows in Europe and several Asian markets, with Latin America getting the picture a bit later.

A first-day "Clones" gross couldn't be projected. But sources said midnight showings alone -- staged by several U.S. exhibitors in addition to other show times beginning later in the morning -- contributed upward of $6 million in combined grosses.

The first-day "Clones" gross ultimately is expected to figure among the top box office days ever. "Spidey" holds the top two spots on that list with daily performances of $43.6 million and $39.4 million -- the Saturday and Friday grosses, respectively, during its May 3 opening weekend.

Meanwhile, anecdotal evidence clearly suggest "Clones" had a boffo Thursday.

"Our midnight showings did extremely well, with numerous sellouts and costumed 'Star Wars' fans camping out and making for a very festive environment," said Dick Westerling, spokesman for giant exhibitor Regal Entertainment. "It met and exceeded our expectations, and we're off to a terrific start for the weekend."

Fox distribution president Bruce Snyder observed: "The midnight shows were a celebration for the fans. And I've been hearing stories from all over the country about everybody just having a good time -- which is what it's all just about."

Thursday matinees were also busy, with sellouts reported in L.A. venues including the Mann Chinese and Mann Village and at Gotham's Empire and Ziegfeld theaters, Snyder added.

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