Sony executives have estimatedfour and six-day opening records for Spider-Man 2 in a triumphant Independence Day holiday weekend, tempered only by thefact that the original picture's legendary three-day mark remained unbeaten.

Sam Raimi's sequel opened topin the US charts and grossed $180m from Wednesday to Monday and $115.8m fromFriday to Monday, while business from Friday to Sunday generated $88.3m.

The six-day gross passed the previous best of $146.9m withoutpreviews and $151.9m including previews by The Matrix Reloaded in 2003. The four-day result beat $90.2mset by Jurassic Park: The Lost World in 1997.

Spider-Man'sthree-day Friday to Sunday $114.8m haul in May 2002 remains intact, and mayhave been a record too far for Spider-Man 2 following its mighty $40.5m all-timeopening day record last Wednesday (Jun 30).

However executives were happy to talk up the new six-day figure (Spider-Man took $144.1m in its first six days) and predictedmore records to come.

Sony Pictures Entertainment vice chairman Jeff Blake said thesequel was expected to pass $200m in a record eight days by Wednesday (7),overtaking the original's nine-day mark.

"It's all goodnews," Blake said. "Certainly everybody is coming out in record numbers despitethe oddness of the July 4 holiday weekend, when Sunday tends to be a bitdepressed."