Print IRON MAN 2 Flies High in Debut

After a string of lackluster weekend reports it came down to Paramount Pictures, Marvel Studios and Iron Man 2 to truly kick off the summer box office season in style. We were even at a point where other studios were cheering on the release’s performance, hoping the film will convince the summer crowds to come check out their upcoming pics as well. And it seems that despite not breaking any opening frame records, Iron Man 2 did its job well by grabbing $133.6 million in cash over its first three days of domestic release.

The opening tally comes well above its predecessor which grabbed a $98.6 mil opening back in 2008. Some insiders believed strong predebut ticket sales could translate it to beating The Dark Knight’s record of $158.4 million but that wasn’t to be.

The studio has revealed the demographics skewed 60% male, with 60% of patrons aged 25 or older. They also report the opening numbers marks for the best ever Paramount debut. And they were a bit nervous about this weekend…

"But what untied those knots was watching the film with a paying audience," says Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige added. "It really was an indication to us that they're still with us for this ride."

The release also ruled the foreign theatrical circuit over the weekend for the second straight foreign frame, flying in with $57.2 million from 10,774 locations in 61 markets. The latest international numbers has increased its foreign gross to $194 million.

When combined together, Iron Man 2 has a worldwide pull of $327.6 million. The studio expects the third film to be in theaters in 2013.

"We do have a contract with Robert Downey Jr. to do it, and it will come after 'The Avengers (summer 2012),' " Feige confirmed.

Warner Bros.' remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street dropped a disturbing 72% in its second domestic frame but still wound up in 2^nd place with $9.2 million. The positive spin on that drop could only be attributed to the small budget ($35 mil) and the film’s domestic tally ($48.5 mil) being above that mark after ten days of release.

DreamWorks Animation officially crossed the $200 million barrier this weekend with their consistent 3D earner How to Train Your Dragon. The film ate up another $6.8 million in its seventh frame and to increase the cume to $201.1 million. With another $207.8 million in foreign markets the studio has amassed a global sum of $408.8 million after 45 days of release.

20^th Century Fox’s Date Night and CBS Films’ The Back-Up Plan continue to grab decent numbers with the couple demographics. The films landed in the 4^th and 5^th places, respectively. “Date” took in another $5.3 million to make for a tally of $80.8 million while Jennifer Lopez’s “Plan” earned another $4.3 million. Its domestic is at $29.4 million.

Rank	Movie	Weekend	Theaters	Average	Total	Budget
1	Iron Man 2	$133.6 mil	4,380	$30,502	$133.6 mil	$200
2	A Nightmare on Elm Street	$9.1 mil	3,332	$2,752	$48.5 mil	$35
3	How to Train Your Dragon	$6.7 mil	3,003	$2,251	$201.0 mil	$165
4	Date Night	$5.3 mil	2,734	$1,939	$80.8 mil	$55
5	The Back-Up Plan	$4.3 mil	3,003	$1,447	$29.4 mil	$35
6	Furry Vengeance	$4.0 mil	3,002	$1,332	$11.6 mil	$35
7	Clash of the Titans	$2.3 mil	2,157	$1,069	$157.8 mil	$125
8	Death at a Funeral	$2.1 mil	1,706	$1,231	$38.3 mil	$21
9	The Losers	$1.8 mil	2,450	$735	$21.4 mil	$25
10	Babies	$1.5 mil	534	$2,949	$1.5 mil	----

With the summer box office season officially kicking off this weekend, we’ll begin to have the weekly numbers updated down below much like the last few summers here at Mania. Eventually when July is turning to August we will highlight the top 10 grossing releases of the summer as well.

IRON MAN 2 Flies High in Debut (Mania.com)