"Like it or not, it's time for the summer box office season, which is sure to unleash some mega-budget no-brainers to the masses. Paramount's Iron Man went against the grain, getting superlative reviews, and peaking with a fantastic marketing plan right at release. Tracking was way off this weekend - analysts thought the opening weekend might come in at $70 million, with BOP thinking $88 million; however, Iron Man broke out even further, earning an estimated $104.25 million since its opening (with $100.8 coming in the Friday-to-Sunday period) and seriously surpassing expectations. Iron Man is officially huge. After an extremely strong marketing campaign, the Marvel and Paramount got exactly what they were looking for - a big start to the summer movie season. Iron Man launched to sneak previews on Thursday, and earned $3.5 million, indicating that a strong weekend lay ahead. Originally, estimates had Thursday at $5.5 million, but the studio has officially listed the performance at the $3.5 million number, presumably to add some of that initial total to weekend numbers so that it might cross the $100 million threshold. On Friday, Iron Man rang up a huge $35 million, and because of the breadth of its target audience, it grossed another $37.5 million on Saturday. Sunday is estimated at $28.2 million." ... "Iron Man wasn't a cheap endeavor. There was a lot riding on its success as Marvel Studios was self-financing for the first time on Iron Man, with Paramount strictly a distributor and paying for prints and advertising. The Hollywood Reporter says the budget on Iron Man was $150 million, and with prints and advertising, the total was over $225 million. With the domestic success and a whopping $96.7 million coming from international markets this weekend, Iron Man looks to be a huge win. On the domestic front, $250 million is certainly in play to due to positive word-of-mouth, and overseas totals should be even higher. It will be interesting to see how Iron Man performs against Speed Racer next weekend, but Iron Man will definitely be a speed bump for the Warner Bros. release." BoxOfficeProphets Weekend Wrap-Up Report Amazing, $100 million in it's first weekend...
Great movie that deserves great money. Way better than the Spider-Man series already. The Spider-Man series lacked the true-to-the-comics feel that Iron Man represented well, along with GENUINELY realistic scenes and acting. Also, Robert Dowey kicks ASS as Tony Starks/Iron Man, unlike Toby McGuire's lifeless, tasteless acting of Peter Parker. They did Iron Man RIGHT, they deserve any money that movie gets, unlike Spider-Man. X-Men was great at first, but 2 and 3 killed it, 'cept of course for Hugh Jackman. Seriously, Iron Man looks to be the greatest movie series Marvel Studios has ever come out with. The after the credits scene just sets it up for The Avengers, which looks just as kick ass. Samuel L. Jackson FOR THE ------ING WIN. Iron Man = Exemplification as to what Marvel Studios should ALWAYS be doing with their comic-to-movie productions.
