It’s a good weekend to be Tony Stark.
Marvel Studio’s sequel Iron Man 2 enters the weekend with a number of already-impressive numbers on its tally: Not only is it the widest opening movie ever in terms of number of theaters, it’s also already tallied $121 million in a week of playing in overseas markets.
Box office watchers are taking bets on whether the film will top the record weekend domestic opening of The Dark Knight, which in 2008 took in $158 million its first three days of release.
Iron Man 2, which opens in an estimated 4,380 theaters, faces as its sole significant new competition this week the documentary Babies, opening at 534 theaters.
Iron Man 2 is directed by Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Mickey Rourke as Whiplash, Don Cheadle as Rhodey, Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts.
Adapted from the Marvel Comics character created in 1963 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Don Heck and Larry Lieber, the sequel has drawn mixed reviews from critics. Ain’t It Cool News’ head geek Harry Knowles hailed the film as ‘comic movie crack,’ while Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times writes that ‘as sequels go, this one is acceptable, nothing more, nothing less.’
