July fourth has arrived and, with it, the first indication of how The Amazing Spider-Man is performing at the domestic box-office. According to studio estimates, the latest version of Marvel’s webslinger took in $35 million on Tuesday from 4,318 locations. That includes the $7.5 million earned from midnight screenings, a figure on par with the midnight launch of Spider-Man 3 five years ago. The Amazing Spider-Man can now claim the biggest Tuesday opening of all time (ahead of the $27.8 million of 2007’s Transformers), although the list of former Tuesday debuts is not particularly impressive. In terms of recent comic book launches, The Amazing Spider-Man seems numerically closest to 2008’s Iron Man and its $35.2 million opening. Comparing it to other entries in the Spider-Man franchise is not very instructive but, what the hell? Spider-Man 3 came out on a Friday in May and earned $59.8 million. On 2004’s more comparable Wednesday-before-July-Fourth, Spider-Man 2 launched to $40.4 million (not adjusted for inflation or 3D differentials). Of course, very few expected The Amazing Spider-Man to compete on the same level as its predecessors, making this morning’s estimate look very promising. At this point, the film should get close to $150 by the end of the weekend.

We all know that this hasn’t been the best year for movies at the domestic box office.  Only a handful of weekends have come out ahead of 2010 in terms of profit.  Luckily, this Memorial Day Weekend was one of them.  Traditionally one of the most profitable of Hollywood’s entire year, this year’s holiday more than measured up.  First, The Hangover Part II crushed the All-Time opening for a comedy.  Then estimates put the combined profits of the domestic box office at nearly 50% above last year’s four-day holiday frame and 10% above 2007’s profits (the year which held the all-time record).  Here’s how the top ten looks, including revised estimates for the three-day weekend:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 1 is the Hagrid-sized hit everyone expected it to be; although its three day estimate – at this point – won’t put it into the top five All-Time releases as was previously projected. They really missed the mark and came in sixth instead. Warner Brothers will have to be content in the knowledge that they have topped their previous Harry Potter record and bide their time until Part 2 comes out in July.

Before I begin, you should know that today is not Sam Raimi’s birthday (The Spider-Man director was born on October 23rd).  But that doesn’t make a special Birthday wish/resentment from James Franco any less funny.  Funny or Die has a great sketch playing off Franco’s mirror scene with Willem Dafoe in Spider-Man 2 and 3.  And playing Willem Dafoe: the brilliant Bill Hader.  The sketch is goofy, fun, and it’s sad/hilarious to see a little post-it on Franco’s dressing room mirror that reads “Spider Man 4??”  Also, I think this sketch features the first reference to Crimewave ever.

Hit the jump to check out the video.

As Eric Forman on That 70′s Show, Topher Grace never showed a dark side.  He was always the good son and audiences responded to his character and the rest of the cast by tuning in for eight seasons.  Since wrapping the show,  Grace starred in Spider-Man 3 as Eddie Brock / Venom and we finally got to see a bit more of what he can do.  Cut to present day, Grace is going to push what audiences expect from him as he’s one of the stars of director Nimrod Antal’s Predators.

Last December, 20th Century Fox invited a few online folks to the Austin, Texas set and we got to speak with Topher Grace about being in Predators and working with the rest of the talented cast.  He talked to us about his character, how it compared to Spider-Man 3, and how a lot of the effects were in-camera.  Hit the jump to read or listen to what he had to say: