Iron Man Beats Speed Racer to Hold Onto #1 Spot for the Second Weekend

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Iron Man's box-office power is still holding, keeping strong in the top spot at movie theaters in the U.S. and Canadia garnering $51 million for distributor Paramount Pictures while newbie Speed Racer had a poor showing at $20 million. Iron Man's world-wide total now at $342 million!

Movie	Rev.(mil)	Theaters	Weeks	Total(mil)
1. Iron Man	$50.5	4,111	2	$177.1
2. Speed Racer	$20.2	3,606	1	$20.2
3. What Happens	$20.0	3,215	1	$20.0
4. Made of Honor	$7.6	2,734	2	$26.3
5. Baby Mama	$5.77	2,627	3	$40.4
6. Forgetting Sarah	$3.78	2,376	4	$50.7
7. Harold & Kumar	$3.16	2,264	3	$30.7
8. Forbidden Kingdom	$1.9	1,724	4	$48.3
9. Nim's Island	$1.33	1,601	6	$44.3
10. Redbelt	$1.14	1,379	2	$1.23

Warner Bros. can't be too pleased with the low 2nd place position although it bodes well for their "other" franchise--Batman.

"Iron Man" kicked off the summer movie season last weekend with $100.8 million in domestic box-office sales. The movie had the second-best weekend opening ever for a non-sequel behind "Spider-Man" in May 2002. Total summer box-office revenue is expected to drop 5.6 percent from a record $4.18 billion last year by films including "Spider-Man 3" and "Shrek the Third," according to Media By Numbers.

"Iron Man is not worried," said Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, which follows the industry. "The film has been cheered by critics and audiences, plus competition from new films is not too strong."

In "Iron Man," Downey plays Tony Stark, a wealthy weapons inventor who is captured by terrorists while demonstrating a new missile to troops in Afghanistan. The hero, based on the Marvel Comics character, fights the bad guys by building a metal suit that gives him super powers. Gwyneth Paltrow co-stars. The film has had $177.1 million in ticket sales since its release.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," scheduled for release on May 22 from Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, is expected to be the top summer film, with estimated sales of $250 million, according to Hollywood Stock Exchange.

"Speed Racer," adapted from the 1960s cartoon series about a fearless young race-car driver, was written and produced by the Wachowski brothers, the creators of the "Matrix" films. Emile Hirsch stars with a supporting cast that includes Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci and John Goodman.

The Time Warner Inc. film received poor write-ups by critics, including Bloomberg reviewer Rick Warner, who called the movie a "candy-colored, migraine-inducing adaptation."

Jim Littler
5/12/2008
Source: Comic Book Movie

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