“Spider Man: Homecoming” surges towards $100M-plus debut

Summer tenptole “Spider-Man: Homecoming” slung a powerful web at the Friday box office, where it could earn $42 million for the day on its way to a resounding domestic debut of as much as $105 million.

At this pace, “Homecoming” has a shot of narrowly besting “Wonder Woman” ($103.3 million) to score the third best opening of the year in North America to date, after “Beauty and the Beast” ($174.8 million) and “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” ($146.5 million). Sony remains more cautious, suggesting in the $90 million range, which would still be a victory for Sony and partner Marvel Studios.

Friday's haul included $15.4 million in previews. “Homecoming” opened in 3,450 theaters Thursday night before expanding into a total of 4,341 locations Friday.

The web-slinging coming-of-age movie earned the third-highest Thursday preview number of the year, behind “Guardians Vol. 2” and “Beauty and the Beast”, and its Thursday night tally exceeded the $11 million earned by “Wonder Woman” in previews.

Tom Holland stars as the new Peter Parker/Spider-Man, a high school student who returns from his adventures with the Avengers, and has a tough time adjusting to life back at school. Michael Keaton stars as the villain Vulture while Jon Favreau, Zendaya, Donald Glover, Tyne Daly, Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. also star.

The film also opened in many international territories, including Bangladesh, where it premiered at the Star Cineplex on Thursday.