Yeah, he can fly!
Iron Man soared to the top of the North American box office this weekend with a stunning US$100.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Adding revenues from Thursday night's screenings, the film reached a domestic total of $104.2 million.
Paramount Pictures' Marvel Comics adaptation came close to beating the $114.8 million record opening for a non-sequel, set by Spider-Man in 2002. Directed by Jon Favreau, Iron Man stars Robert Downey Jr. as high-profile weapons manufacturer Tony Stark, who becomes a superhero after building a high-tech, armor-plated suit.
Debuting in second place was Sony's romantic comedy Made of Honor, with $15.5 million. Starring Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan, the romantic comedy centers on a man who plots to ruin his best friend's wedding after she asks him to be her maid of honor.
Last week's winner Baby Mama dropped to No. 3, earning $10.3 million, bringing its total haul to $32.3 million. Directed by Michael McCullers, the Universal comedy stars Tina Fey as an infertile businesswoman who hires a chaotic working girl (Amy Poehler) as her surrogate.
At No. 4, Nicholas Stoller's Forgetting Sarah Marshall brought in $6.1 million from 2,872 theaters. Starring Jason Segel as a sluggish musician mourning the breakup with his girlfriend (Kristen Bell), the Judd Apatow-produced comedy lifted its cumulative gross to $44.8 million after a solid three-week run.
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay slipped to fifth place with $6 million, reaching a domestic total of $25.2 million after two weeks in release. The Warner Bros. sequel stars John Cho and Kal Penn as two clueless stoners who are shipped to Guantanamo Bay after being mistaken for terrorists.
Meanwhile, Rob Minkoff's The Forbidden Kingdom tumbled to No. 6 with a weekend gross of $4.2 million and a cumulative gross of $45.1 million. Starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, the martial-arts tale centers on an American teenager who's thrust into a magical world in order to free an imprisoned king.
Following at No. 7 with $2.7 million was Nim's Island, which brought its domestic total to $42,5 million after five weeks in release. At No. 8, Screen Gems' teen horror flick Prom Night collected $2.5 million, lifting its total gross to $41.4 million.
Two films rounded out the top 10: Robert Luketic's drama 21, which slipped to ninth place and pulled in $2.1 million, and Al Pacino's thriller 88 Minutes, which took home $1.6 million.
Exiting the top 10 were Steve Martino and Jimmy Hayward's computer-animated family flick Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who, which scored $149.8 million after an eight-week run, and Marcel Langenegger's directorial debut, Deception, which earned only $3.9 million after nearly two weeks in release.
Source: Box Office Mojo (boxofficemojo.com)
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After a few wild predictions that Iron Man would actually break 100mil, it's really nice to see that the hopes and dreams of comic book fans everywhere came true.