New Movies May 2-4: It's All About 'Spider-Man'

Remember that joke about the two guys being chased by a bear? The first guy says, "Do you think we can outrun the bear?" And the second guy says, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you." That's the situation "The Amazing-Spider Man 2" is facing this weekend. While observers are focusing on whether or not it can perform up to the standards set by previous films in the franchise, the truth is all it needs to do is outperform the competition, which shouldn't be too hard this weekend.

"Spider-Man" is the only new wide release this weekend, and it's opening extremely wide. The question is whether or not it can manage to take in $100 million over the weekend, and it will easily win the box-office race. Forecasts and negative reviews suggest that it won't perform nearly as well as its 2011 predecessor or the Sam Raimi-directed "Spider-Man," which took in $115 million on this same weekend in 2002.

It will beat last week's winner, "The Other Woman," though. The Cameron Diaz comedy benefitted from weak competition in its opening weekend, but "Spider-Man" and poor word-of-mouth make it likely that the film will experience a big drop-off this week. Likewise, "Captain America: The Winter Soldier," which had taken first place each of the previous three weeks, won't be a contender, but it could slug it out with Diaz for second place.

The real challenge for "Spider-Man" will come in two weeks, when "Godzilla" shows up, and the week after that, when "X-Men: Days of Future Past" debuts. In this busy month of May, the web-slinger doesn't have much breathing room.