Archive for the ‘Iron Man’ Category
Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood Daily » ‘IRON MAN’ IS SUMMER’S ROCKETMAN: Soars To $100M Weekend, $50M Overseas
Posted on: May 4, 2008
SATURDAY PM: An insider just told me that Marvel’s Iron Man has made at least $100 million for the 3 1/2 days of its opening release in North America. “We’re having a fantastic Saturday,” a source within distributor Paramount relays. “Most movies in this genre fall Friday to Saturday. Not this one!!!” The total wildly exceeded what Marvel and Paramount thought would be the comic book movie’s realistic take from 4,105 theaters during its debut. I’m told the PG-13 action pic also has taken in a monster $50 million overseas from nearly 50 foreign territories.
SATURDAY AM: This is why Hollywood keeps making movies from comic books. Now it’s official: Marvel’s Iron Man opened with $38.5 million at Thursday’s and Friday’s box office for what will be $95 million in total domestic gross for the full 3 1/2 day release (including Thursday night’s $5 million haul from advance screenings in 2,500 theaters, plus Friday- Saturday-and-Sunday’s monster take in 4,105 venues). The PG-13 blockbuster distributed by Paramount logged in No. 1 as the best 2008 film opening, but also shoul finish among the Top 2 or Top 3 summer movies of the year as it kicks off the all-important May through August popcorn season. The $140 million production self-financed by Marvel also broke the record for the second biggest non-sequel opening of all time behind only Spider-Man 1. (With its unconventional leading man Robert Downey Jr — which may be one secret to the film’s success — and director (Elf) Jon Favreau, the pic is the second biggest Marvel comic book movie character behind only Sony’s Spider-Man franchise.) 
“Especially when we’ve had a horrid March and April, this shows people are ready to go to the movies,” an insider says. I understand the Cinemascore was an A, and an A-plus with younger groups ages 18 to 24, and under 25. The movie like most comic book pics understandably skewed more male: I just saw the Cinemascore figures, and that gender gap was wide Friday night: 71% male-29% female filmgoers. (Interestingly, Iron Man insiders cite internal figures claiming it was 60%-40% “which bodes well for female audiences finding the movie and loving it.”) According to Rotten Tomatoes, Iron Man is the best reviewed wide release so far this year — 95% positive reviews — and the best reviewed comic book movie in the website’s (albeit brief) history. Meanwhile, distributor Paramount is milking this monster hit for all it’s worth: it has attached the new trailer for its Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull to the showings of Iron Man.
OVERSEAS: Iron Man opened overseas as early as April 30th. I’m told that, in over 47 international territories, the pic made $30 million total over Wednesday and Thursday. This does not include the UK, where Iron Man debuts today, or Japan, where it opens in September.
The other major movie opening, Sony’s Made Of Honor starring Patrick Dempsey, did respectably considering all the competition: I’m told it opened to $5.6M Friday from 2,729 venues for what should be a $16M FSS.
FRIDAY 9 PM: Sources just told me that Marvel’s Iron Man will make $30-plus million from 4,105 theaters for Friday’s domestic box office gross and should have an $80+ million North American weekend. (One rival studio thinks the pic did $32M Friday and definitely will earn high $80sM if not $90M for the 3-day weekend.) Meanwhile, Thursday night’s take from advance screenings in about 2,500 theaters was a very big $5 million, sources tell me. And impressively that number was reached with almost no specific marketing at all to the preshows. Friday’s total and new weekend projection far exceeded what the studio and distributor hoped (its 3-day FSS estimate was $65M-70M, or $75M for the 3 1/2 days). Iron Man will also mark the biggest movie opening of 2008 as it kicks off the all-important summer popcorn season.
WEEKEND PREDICTION: Latest projections by my box office gurus call for Iron Man to debut with a monster $75 million to $85 million 3-day weekend. That will make it the second best Marvel comic book character opening, second only to Sony’s Spider-Man franchise. According to Rotten Tomatoes, as of noon today, Marvel’s Iron Man is the best reviewed wide release so far this year — 95% positive reviews — and the best reviewed comic book movie in the website’s (albeit brief) history. Nice way to kick off the summer popcorn season and great validation for Marvel’s decision to self-finance its productions. (I’m told Iron Man came in at a cost of around $140M.) Tonight’s showings begin around 8 PM in about 2,500 locations, then the pic rolls out super-sized to 4,105 theaters on Friday through Sunday. The distributor Paramount is still sticking with its $65M-$70M projected opening, “and anything over $70M is a home run.”
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(Source: Paramount)
Hollywood worried gamers will ignore Iron Man
The target audience for summer blockbuster movies aren’t that different from blockbuster video games. Popcorn flicks feature fast-paced action with special effects, and hit games usually also feature intense action sequences with the latest graphical tricks. Perhaps for this reason, some Hollywood executives are sweating the release of Grand Theft Auto IV.
In particular, the Iron Man movie will hit screens at the end of this week in an environment now filled with people playing Grand Theft Auto IV. The target demographic for Iron Man shares much overlap with GTA IV, causing some concern for Hollywood.
According to the Financial Times, EA CEO John Riccitiello said that movie executives have told him they worry that GTA IV would take away from Iron Man box office. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that before,” he says. “There’s a big reset happening now.”
This isn’t the first time that Hollywood is looking at a hot game property with some trepidation. Last fall, the release of Halo 3 pulled in at $170 million on day one, eventually amounting to over $300 million on the game alone in the first week.
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