"Iron Man 2" Sees Solid Friday Debut of $52.4 ; Will you see it in 3D?
5/09/2010 11:21:00 AM
kenmouse
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Marvel Studio's "Iron Man 2" soared to the top of domestic box office charts with an estimated $52.4 million in ticket sales from its first day in release on Friday.That kick-started Hollywood's summer box office season in auspicious style in the United States and Canada, but quickly muted any further talk of a possible record-breaking weekend for the Robert Downey Jr. star vehicle.
July 2008's debut of "The Dark Knight" from Warner Bros. holds the opening-weekend record of $158.1 million, while Paramount-distributed "Iron Man 2" looks likely to land in the $125 million-$135 million range through Sunday.
The Friday tally for "Iron Man 2" -- featuring a $4.1 million contribution from 181 Imax venues -- included $7.5 million in midnight Thursday receipts.
The film unspooled earlier in international markets and has totaled $200 million in cumulative worldwide ticket sales. The sequel to May 2008's "Iron Man" cost at least $170 million to produce, with Marvel laying out roughly $75 million in additional marketing expenses.
Reviews have been mostly positive, if less than rapturous, potentially helping to sustain weekend momentum for "Iron Man 2" through the Mother's Day holiday in the United States on Sunday.
Elsewhere on Friday, Warner Bros.' remake of horror movie "A Nightmare on Elm Street" ranked second with $3.3 million and cumulative total of $42.7 million at the start of its second weak.
Fox's action comedy "Date Night" grabbed the bronze medal position among daily grosses, with another $1.6 million shaping a $77.2 million cumulative total on the cusp of its fifth weekend in release.
'Iron Man 2': Would you have paid extra to see it in 3D?
Iron Man 2 is on track to rake in more than $130 million in its opening weekend–an impressive haul, though not enough to break The Dark Knight‘s $158 million record. But Iron Man 2 would have a good shot at shattering that benchmark if it had been released in 3D and taken advantage of those higher ticket prices. Robert Downey Jr. acknowledged as much in EW’s recent Iron Man 2 cover story, saying, “Whether or not we think we have [left money on the table], we have.” Make no mistake: record or no record, Iron Man 2 is a big, fat hit. But in a post-Avatar world, as Hollywood tries to figure out whether 3D is a temporary fad or a genuine game-changer—an especially pressing question given sinking DVD revenues—armchair studio executives (not to mention real ones) will study Iron Man 2‘s grosses closely and wonder how much higher they could have soared with some of that sweet, sweet 3D booty.
Studio bean counters can wonder all they want. The real question is, would you even have wanted to see Iron Man 2 in 3D? Audiences have given the movie a Cinemascore grade of A, suggesting they were plenty satisfied with it as is. But would the spectacle of Tony Stark zipping through the sky in his metal suit or Ivan Vanko slashing race cars in half with his electro-whips have been significantly cooler with an added third dimension? Given the choice between taking the first blockbuster of the summer straight-up or on the 3D rocks, which way would you have gone? Those Hollywood bean counters are hanging on your answer.
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