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MOVIEGOERS TURN IRON INTO GOLD
Monday, May 5 2008
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Box office analysts marveled at the weekend performance of Iron Man over the weekend as the superhero movie starring Robert Downey Jr. hauled in an estimated $100.7 million. The film earned nearly that amount -- $96.7 million -- in its overseas debut as well to bring its worldwide total to $201 million, including late-night screenings on Thursday. Adding to the industry-wide celebration was word that Sony's counterprogramming strategy -- pitting the romantic comedy Made of Honor opposite the superhero thriller -- also paid off, as the movie brought in $15.5 million. Nevertheless, the combined amount did not equal what Spider-Man 3 earned on its own a year ago, when it debuted over the comparable weekend with $151.1 million domestically. No one, however, expressed disappointment. Noting that Iron Man did better than expected -- Paramount, its distributor, had predicted it would make about $60 million; most analysts had forecast about $70 million -- Paul Dergarabedian, head of the box-office tracking firm Media by Numbers, told the AP: "This is certainly the shot in the arm the marketplace has needed." The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers:
1. Iron Man, $100.7 million; 2. Made of Honor, $15.5 million; 3. Baby Mama, $10.3 million; 4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall, $6.1 million; 5. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantánamo Bay, $6 million; 6. The Forbidden Kingdom, $4.2 million; 7. Nim's Island, $2.8 million; 8. Prom Night, $2.5 million; 9. 21, $2.1 million; 10. 88 Minutes, $1.6 million.
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IRON MAN IS MARVELOUS FOR MARVEL
Monday, May 5 2008
The
success
of
Iron
Man
represented
a
noteworthy
vindication
of
Marvel
Studios'
decision
to
go
it
alone
--
to
finance
the
production
of
movies
based
on
its
stable
of
superheroes
and
sell
distribution
rights
to
studios,
in
this
case
Paramount.
In
an
interview
with
Reuters,
Marvel
Studios
Chairman
David
Maisel
said,
"It's
the
perfect
way
to
start
the
new
studio,
to
blast
it
off."
Box
office
observers
noted
pointedly
that
Paramount
has
never
produced
a
(more)
IRON MAN WON'T BE A SPIDER-MAN, ANALYSTS PREDICT
Friday, May 2 2008
The
head
of
the
leading
company
tracking
box-office
performance
has
expressed
doubt
that
this
year's
blockbusters
will
reach
the
heights
of
those
a
year
ago.
Paul
Dergarabedian,
president
of
Media
by
Numbers,
is
predicting
that
ticket
sales
are
likely
to
drop
around
5.6
percent
from
last
summer,
when
studios
raked
$4.18
billion,
largely
on
revenue
from
sequels
of
previous
hits,
like
Spider-Man,
Pirates
of
the
Caribbean,
and
Shrek.
"To
get
to
that
level
is
going
(more)
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