San Francisco ? “Spider-Man 2” snared a record $180 million box-office take in its first six days of release.

The movie, starring Tobey Maguire as the insectlike comic-book hero, has broken the previous six-day gross record set by “The Matrix Reloaded” which took in $146.9 million last year, according to Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, a box-office tracking firm based in Los Angeles.

“Spider-Man 2” is distributed by Sony.

Dergarabedian said the movie also broke the record as the biggest Fourth of July weekend opener with $88.3 million. The previous record holder for the holiday was another sequel: “Men in Black 2” with $52.1 million in 2002.

“Sony’s (‘Spider-Man 2’ release) pattern was key here: It was a long holiday week, and it had great reviews,” said Dergarabedian. “The marketing and the movie itself definitely appealed to a broad-based audience because it had a lot of heart to it.”

Deregarabedian said Michael Moore’s film “Fahrenheit 9/11” contributed to big Fourth of July holiday ticket sales.

It brought in $16.4 million Friday through Sunday and $21 million in sales for Friday through Monday, with an overall total of $60.1 million — a record in the documentary movie genre.