We knew there was extraordinary hype around Spider-Man, but no-one could have expected a $40+m gross on its opening day. Box Office Mojo reports:

Spider-Man grossed a whopping $41.4 million on Friday, according to estimates. That's by far the biggest day ever in Hollywood history, shattering Harry Potter's $32.3 million opening day record and Potter's $33.5 million single day record. Spidey is now on course to top Potter's $90.3 million to have the biggest opening weekend ever, likely becoming the first movie to top $100 million in a single weekend.

How will AOTC fair on its opening day? Anything short of $40m will now be seen as a failure by box-office pundits & critics. Thanks to Robert for the alert.

Update: