With Spider-Man 2, which received some of the strongest reviews yet for a big-budget film, being unleashed today in more than 4,150 theatres across North America – a record surpassed only by Shrek 2 – the summer continues to spring one record after another.

While box-office experts are confident that the latest Spidey adventure could see more than $120 million in five days in America alone, the records set by Fahrenheit 9/11 and Shrek 2 cannot be ignored.

Among the strongest reviews Spider-Man 2, in which the superhero doubts his mission and is torn by his love for the girl next door, has received is the one in The New York Times. '...Its distinguishing features... are strong characters and honest feelings,' wrote A O Scott.

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In Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert mused: 'It's a superhero movie for people who don't go to superhero movies, and for those who do, it's the one they've been yearning for.'

In Chicago Tribune, Mark Caro declared that the new film, which cost about $200 million, 'improves upon its predecessor in almost every way...'

When it opened in 830 theatres, Fahrenheit 9/11 set a record for documentary films by being the widest released non-concert documentary. The furiously funny anti-Bush docudrama turned out to be the highest grossing film of the week, and the highest grossing documentary.

Just as the conservatives, who had called for a boycott of the film contending that it had exaggerated and subverted what they saw as the truth, were smarting, there was more bad news for them. On June 28, distributor Lions Gate revealed that the box-office estimates released the previous evening had to be corrected. In a rare development, Fahrenheit 9/11 had grossed nearly $1.5 million more than the estimation.

Now, the film stands with a $23.95 million opening weekend record. It continued doing scorching business through the week, with its full week gross expected to reach $40 million. The film, which cost $6 million to make and about $10 million to launch, will become profitable by the middle of next week.

Filmmaker Michael Moore, who had vigorously rebutted the argument that the anti-Bush film would be preaching to a choir, has been saying that the choir needs to be woken up and galvanised to vote against Bush. He also feels that the film has also been drawing a significant number of independent, and many Republican voters.

Watching the strong performance of the film in the early days of the week, Lions Gate, which was already planning to add more screens, announced on June 29 that it would be adding about 300 new screens the next day. But what was more significant is that the film will add about 600 more screens on Friday, making it available in over 1700 theatres. The Michael Moore film could add at least $30 million in the next week, and the possibility of it becoming the first documentary to fly past the $100 million benchmark seems realistic now.

There was plenty to rejoice for DreamWorks folks this week. Shrek 2, which is the highest grossing film for the studio in North America and has already been anointed the highest grossing animated film ever, crossed the $400 million mark on Wednesday. In two days, it may overtake Spider-Man (gross, $402 million) as the fifth highest grossing film in North America.

The film, which has slowly been opening abroad, has amassed over $150 million in the last four weeks. It could eventually overtake Finding Nemo, which grossed $850 million worldwide. In America, Shrek 2 beat Nemo's $330 million record several weeks ago.

DreamWorks' bittersweet Tom Hanks comedy The Terminal, which had a slow start at the box office, remained steady in its second week and stands a good chance of reaching a decent $100 million gross. Hollywood expects the film, directed by Steven Spielberg, which cost over $100 million, to be a far bigger hit abroad, and eventually turn out to be an above average hit.

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