Holy ****!
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/wkd-prediction-iron-man-a-strongman/
SUNDAY AM: Here are the official blockbuster numbers -- Paramount Pictures
release of Marvel Studios' Iron Man, in 4,105 theaters, made an estimated
$35,125,000 on Friday 5/2, an estimated $37,500,000 on Saturday 5/3, for
an
estimated 3-day weekend box office of $100,750,000. Advance screenings in
select locations, about 2,500 venues, from 8:00 PM to midnight on Thursday
5/1 contributed an additional $3,500,000. With this addition, the total
estimated box office is $104,250,000. The estimated international box
office
for the weekend is $96,750,000 from 57 territories. The total combined
estimated global box office for Marvel Studios' Iron Man is $201,000,000.
"It beat Will Smith and Jesus!" gushed a Paramount insider referring to
the
openings of I Am Legend and The Passion Of The Christ. "It's just mind
blowing. Internally, some people were going into high 80sM and low 90sM
but
people were laughing at them. We had our own box office poll and maybe one
person thought $100M." The monster numbers now make Iron Man the second
biggest 3-day release for a non-sequel in the history of Hollywood, behind
only Sony's first Spider-Man. It's also the No. 10 movie opening weekend
and
the No. 4 superhero movie weekend of all time. The $140 million production
self-financed by Marvel was also distibutor Paramount's biggest live
action
opening of all time. I understand that, at first, Paramount thought
Thursday's advance screenings generated $5 million, but then discovered
that
$1.7 million ended up being for 12:01 AM shows so that money went towards
Friday gross.
The other major movie opening, Sony's Made Of Honor starring Patrick
Dempsey, did respectably for No. 2: it opened to $5.6M Friday and $6M
Saturday from 2,729 venues for a $15.5M weekend. Audiences were skewed
female (68%) and older (62% were ages 25+). "Given the competition with
Iron
Man, we are very pleased with the results of our counter programming," a
Sony Pictures spokesman said. "The movie was produced for under $40
million
and is another in a string of moderately-budgeted, commercial films that
will perform well for the studio."
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