Movie Power Rankings: 'Spider-Man' out-buzzes 'Wolverine 2' for no. 1

Is Electro "Spider-Man's" adversary in the new movie?

Emma Stone as the love interest in the new "Spider-Man" had been rumored for months, but Rhys Ifans as the villain?  That was a big surprise.  Especially to the media who have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for any tidbit on this movie since it seemed like Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst wouldn't return for a fourth Raimi "Spidey" which, as we now know, never happened anyway.

No doubt enjoying the thought of fanboys squirming in their seats, director Mark Webb and Sony Pictures have decided not to reveal what longtime Spider-Man adversary Ifans will play.  According to a poll on HitFix, more people want Ifans to play The Lizard even though the word on the street is that he'll be electrifying New York as Electro.  And even with production months away, that's enough buzz to shoot the Web Slinger to no. 1.

Oct. 13, 2011

1. "Spider-Man" (last week no. 4)
Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker? Check. Emma Stone as, um, Gwen Stacy?  Check.  Rhys Ifans as, um, an unnamed villain? Check.  What direction this movie is going?  No idea.

2. "Wolverine 2" (not ranked)
Today, it looks like Darren Aronofsky is leaning towards helming the "Wolverine" sequel.  Tomorrow?  Who knows.

3. "The Bourne Legacy" (last week no. 6)
Can you have a blockbuster "Bourne" movie without Matt Damon?  We're about to find out.

5. "Tron Legacy" (last week no. 10)
Many of the press have had the opportunity to watch 20 plus minutes from the Joseph Kosinski epic.  On Oct. 28, you can too (unless you live in California where every screening is sold out) .  That's confidence.

6. "The Social Network" (last week no. 2)
The David Fincher drama drops only 31% in its second weekend as a long awards season awaits.

7. "Harry Potter" (last week no. 9)
Warner Bros. does the right thing and decides not to release "Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1" in 3-D.  Millions of Muggles cheer.

8. "Transformers 3" (not ranked)
We have a title: "Transformers: The Dark of the Moon." No, we don't know what it means either.

9. "The Twilight Saga" (same)
OK, Team Jacob and Team Edward, who loves the new Renesmee more?



10. "Pirates of the Caribbean" (not ranked)
Because he's just not popular enough, Johnny Depp surprises a school nearby the "On Stranger Tides" set in full Captain Jack Sparrow regalia singing pirates songs and leaving lasting memories.

11. "Fury Road" (not ranked)
Another year, another delay…for another year.  This is not a good sign for the long awaited "Mad Max" sequel. 

12. "Halo" (not ranked)
DreamWorks is developing a movie about the best selling video game hoping to avoid reimbursing 20th Century Fox and Universal for their work on a previous flick.  Yeah, good luck with that.

13. "Jackass 3-D" (last week no. 11)
No joke. The third installment of the "Jackass" franchise has its premiere at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

14. "Oz" (not ranked)
"Spider-Man" who?  Sam Raimi is officially hitting the yellow brick road.

15. MGM (not ranked)
Just when you thought the Spyglass merger was a done deal, Lionsgate and Carl Icahan decide to complicate things.  Maybe.

Dropping like a rock…

*Katherine Heigl
Is she land another "Life As We Know It" or "Killers" on her resume, she might be figuring out how to return to TV very, very quickly.

Last week's rankings:

Oct. 5, 2011

Movie Power Rankings appear every Tuesday on HitFix.  What do you think of this week's rankings?

Gregory Ellwood
Editor-in-Chief, Co-Founder

• Follow

With over a decade of experience in the movie industry, Ellwood survived working for two major studios and has written for Variety, MSN and the LA Times. A co-founder of HitFix, Ellwood spends his time relaxing hitting 3’s on the basketball court and following his beloved Clippers.