Premieres

Spider-Man
2002
Village Theatre, Westwood

Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) was orphaned as a child and raised by Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Queens, New York. He has a best buddy (James Franco), is smitten by Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst), and leads a normal life, going to school and working as a photographer for a local newspaper, until everything changes for him when he is bitten by a genetically altered spider during a science demonstration and he discovers that he has unusual powers - the strength and agility of a spider. Then the plot thickens!!!

The film played at both the Village and the Bruin theatres seating 2,000 guests, and bleachers were jammed with fans of one of the all-time favorite comic book characters. The after-party had to be set up a mile away from Westwood Village because of the guest list, and inside were 30 buffets, 20 bars, a rock-climbing wall, and a Cirque du Soleil-style performance by acrobats. Partygoers included stars Maguire, Dunst and Willem Dafoe, Will Smith and family, L.A. Laker's Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, director Sam Raimi, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Adam Sandler, and on and on and on. Cost of the after-party was set at $1 million! "It's worth it," said Columbia's Amy Pascal. And she was right - the first 3-day weekend was the biggest in entertainment history - $114,000,000!!!

Someone's creeping up on helmer Sam Raimi and sons.

Sony's Howard Stringer regales "Spider-Man" stars Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst and Willem Dafoe with a tale at Monday's after-party.