‘Spider-Man’ beats ‘Dark Knight’ on first day in China

The web crawler beat out the Caped Crusader on their first day going head-to-head in China.

Sony Pictures’ “The Amazing Spider-Man” grossed $5.46 million after it started playing in theaters Monday, while Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight Rises” took in $4.45 million.

“Spider-Man” played in slightly more theaters -- 2,515 compared to 2,400 for the Batman movie -- and benefited from surcharges for 3-D tickets, making the two movies’ performances very close.

The two movies opened on the same day, a gambit by state-owned distributor China Film Group to limit the grosses of American movies and boost the share of box office generated by local productions. (For more details, see the story in today’s Times.)

Neither was a huge start, however, as noted by the blog China Film Biz. The single-day record in China was set in 2011 by “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” with $15.9 million. In April, “Titanic 3D” took in $11.6 million on its first day.

But of course, neither of those movies had to compete for screens or consumers’ attention with another Hollywood blockbuster of the same genre.

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