Iron Man pounds rivals

2008-05-12 10:28

Los Angeles - Superhero movie Iron Man pounded the competition at North American box offices for the second straight weekend, landing at No 1 with $50.5m in ticket sales, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The movie about a comic book hero in a high-tech suit of armour took in $12 284 per theatre at 4 111 locations, and saw its total box office rise to $177m after only about 10 days in theatres.

Iron Man blasted by two new entries this weekend, family adventure Speed Racer and romantic comedy What Happens in Vegas, which battled for the No 2 and No 3 positions.

Speed Racer finished in the second-place spot with $20.2m in ticket sales to $20m for No 3 Vegas, according to Sunday's estimates. But those figures could change when Monday's final weekend tallies are released.

Speed Racer got off to a slow start for the big-budget film's backers at Warner Bros. who had high hopes the movie would prove to be a runaway hit for kids and their parents.

'Disappointed'

"We were disappointed with the results over the weekend," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros.

However, Fellman said surveys of audiences leaving theatres showed they had positive reactions to the movie about a race car driver named Speed who must stop wealthy corporations from using profits to fix races.

It was made by the directors of the Matrix, brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski.

"We're hoping, optimistically, that the movie can turn it around and sustain an audience into the summer but only time will tell at this early stage," Fellman said.

While Speed Racer managed to claim the No 2 spot, Vegas beat it on the basis of average sales per theatre.

Vegas, which stars Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz as a pair of mismatched lovers who get married after a fling in Las Vegas, pulled in $6 221 per theatre in 3 215 theatres compared to $5 605 per venue in 3 606 locations for Speed.

'Great result'

A spokesperson for Twentieth Century Fox, which released Vegas, called its performance a "great result" that surpassed expectations for what he said was a movie that cost a mere $35m to make.

By contrast, Speed Racer was estimated to have cost $150m to make and another $100m to market, according to a recent story in the Los Angeles Times.

Rounding out the top 5 films this weekend were romantic comedy Made of Honour, starring Patrick Dempsey, in the No 4 spot with $7.6m and a two-week total of $26.3m.

Made of Honour was followed by Tina Fey comedy Baby Mama with an estimated tally of $5.8m and a cumulative total of $40.4m after three weeks in theatres.

Iron Man was produced by Marvel Studios and released by Paramount Pictures.

Made of Honour was distributed by Columbia Pictures, and Baby Mama by Universal Pictures.

- Reuters