NEW YORK, Oct. 31 -- Tonight, Halloween night, thousands of Spider-Man(TM) fans are set to rush major retail stores in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Dallas, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Houston, San Antonio, Kansas City, St. Louis, Denver, San Diego, Phoenix, and scores of others, in anticipation of "Spider-Man's" release on DVD and VHS November 1. With the great consumer anticipation for Friday's release of "Spider-Man," retailers are answering the call by staging local "Midnight Madness" parties to meet the overwhelming demand. Major retailers in the largest cities across the United States are participating in the festivities including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Blockbuster, Tower Records, Virgin and FYE Stores.
"Spider-mania is taking the country by storm, with the most anticipated DVD of all time and the most-popular Halloween costume of the season," said Benjamin S. Feingold, President, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. "Major retailers across the country are opening their doors at midnight in anticipation of the thousands of eager fans waiting to own a piece of the Spider-Man phenomenon."
Having surpassed $800 million in worldwide box-office, "Spider-Man," makes its long awaited debut on DVD and VHS in a two-disc set on November 1. Jam-packed with a host of superhero worthy extras, the "Spider-Man" DVD is available in both wide screen and full screen editions, as well as in a limited edition Collector's DVD Gift Set.
In addition to the dozens of midnight madness events throughout the country, Spider-Man will make a spectacular gravity-defying appearance in New York City to kick-off the DVD and VHS release. Furthermore, "Spider-Man" star J.K. Simmons (newspaper editor J. Jonah Jameson) together with WNBA star, Rebecca Lobo will be appearing at the NBA Store in New York City (5th Avenue & 52nd Street) on Friday, November 1 at 4:00 p.m. to promote the League's "Read to Achieve" community relations initiative. Simmons will be a part of the NBA's monthly "time-out" session where he and NBA players will read to 4th and 5th grade students.
SPIDER-MAN
From Columbia Pictures Presents, A Marvel Enterprises/Laura Ziskin Production, Spider-Man is a live-action feature of one of the world's most popular comic book superheroes. Directed by Sam Raimi, Spider-Man centers on student Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) who, after being bitten by a genetically- altered spider, gains superhuman strength and the spider-like ability to cling to any surface. He vows to use his abilities to fight crime, coming to understand the words of his beloved Uncle Ben: "With great power comes great responsibility."
The journey of "Spider-Man," from comic book to celluloid began in 1962 when the character first appeared in the final issue of the failing "Amazing Fantasy" comic book. It was such a hit that "Amazing Fantasy" was renamed "Amazing Spider-Man" and reappeared in 1963. Since then, the web of 'not for the faint of heart' readers, fans and collectors worldwide has grown into making "Spider-Man" one of the most popular superheroes among the young, old, women and men. And now, 40 years later, with great power and great responsibility, the tale of "Spider-Man" jumps from the screen into the home on DVD and VHS for the whole family to enjoy.
ABOUT COLUMBIA TRISTAR HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. SPE is a division of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.
ABOUT NBA's READ TO ACHIEVE PROGRAM
The NBA's Read to Achieve program is a year-round campaign to help young people develop a life-long love for reading and encourage adults to read regularly to children. Reaching an estimated 50 million children a year, Read to Achieve is the most extensive educational outreach initiative in the history of professional sports. In addition to being supported by all 29 NBA teams, 16 WNBA teams, the eight teams that make up the NBA's new minor league, the National Basketball Development League (NBDL), Read to Achieve is supported by the NBA's officials, parents and wives of players organizations, and the NBA Players Association and Retired Players Association.
