Keo points out a San Francisco Chronicle article on the debate between Spider-Man and Clones and the effect on the box office this summer:

He swings from precipices and leaps across skyscrapers, but Spider- Man's niftiest trick might be the two-week jump he got on those pesky clones. "Spider-Man," on pace to become one of the highest grossers of all time, appears to be winning the first faceoff of summer-movie behemoths.

But the question is which film, "Spider-Man" or "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones," will have the real legs?

"Attack of the Clones," the fifth installment in George Lucas's series, opened Thursday and grossed $110.2 million through the weekend. The figure was $6 million less than 20th Century Fox's original estimates but enough to make it the second- fastest movie to pass $100 million. The quickest was "Spider- Man," which opened May 3 and made more money in three days -- $114.8 million -- than "Clones" did in four.

But "Spider-Man's" real strength lies in how it's sticking around. Most movies with huge openings experience a drop-off of 50 percent or more the next weekend. "Spider-Man" fell less than 40 percent over its next two weekends, becoming the fastest film to gross $200 million, then $250 million. It's expected to hit $300 million this week. "Spider-Man" made $45 million last weekend.

"We've never seen anything this strong," says Paul Dergarabedian of Exhibitor Relations, which tracks box office receipts. He says "Spider-Man" appears likely to earn $400 million domestically and reach the all-time top five, which is led by "Titanic" at $600 million.

"Clones" might achieve that rarefied status as well. It already has outpaced the first "Star Wars" prequel, "Phantom Menace," which reached No. 4 on the all-time list at $431 million. Since "Clones" is widely viewed as superior to its predecessor, the movie's showing last weekend bodes well.

"Our goal was just to match ("Phantom Menace") and we surpassed it, and we hope this has similar kind of legs," said Bruce Snyder, head of distribution for Fox. As it did with "Phantom Menace," Fox limited the film's release to theaters with digital sound. "Clones" is playing in 3,161 theaters, nearly 500 fewer than "Spider-Man."