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SUNDAY UPDATE: Early overseas estimates from Paramount have Iron Man 2 grossing just over $100 million from 53 markets. And some large territories haven’t even opened yet, like Germany, Japan, and China. In local currencies, the film opened 25% ahead of the original Iron Man (despite the fact that in those two years both the British pound and Euro have dropped significantly). IM1 opened at $99 million (that opening also included Germany). The largest opening was the UK ending the weekend with $12M including previews. Second was Korea at $11M. Third was Australia at $9M. Fourth was France at $8.5M. Clearly, this 2D Marvel comic book pic distributed by Paramount is gonna make a mint in the U.S. and Canada even without lifting an armored finger. Maybe $155M domestic its first 3-day weekend, or so rival studios predict. The original IM made $98.6M. Some expect IM2 to even break The Dark Knight‘s 3-day record of $158.4M.
SATURDAY: Here’s an update on international gross for Iron Man 2 which doesn’t open in North America until May 7th. The sequel added $23 million on Friday bringing its overseas total to $33 million as the Robert Downey Jr starrer directed by Jon Favreau rolled into 32 more territories today, or 6,450 theaters across 53 markets, which is 80% of the global take. Highlights were Mexico, which delivered the 4th best opening day there of all time, or $2.1M.
FRIDAY: Iron Man 2 opened internationally Wednesday early so as not to get in the way of the monthlong World Cup begininng in South Africa on June 11th.) The pic immediately jumped to the top of the box office in 6 markets for a total $2.2 million. In France, the Jon Favreau-directed campfest ran 11% ahead of 2008′s Iron Man bow there. On Thursday, Paramount continued its international rollout in 21 total countries (+17 markets) for a cume already of $10 million). Australia and Korea came in at $1.7 million (Down Under just ahead of where Spider-Man 3 opened in May 2007, and Russia $1.3 million, or 14% ahead of the Spidey threequel. Paramount rolls Iron Man 2 into 32 more territories today, or 6,450 theaters across 53 markets, which is 80% of international. China, Japan, Germany, Turkey, and India open over the next 4 weeks. The original Iron Man grossed $265 million internationally and $318.3 million domestically.
The online ticketseller Fandango reported Iron Man 2, which opens May 7th in North America, is a “Must See” by a 32% margin.
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I still can’t believe that’s an actual poster.
Fanboys are not griping that its not in 3D. Fanboys hate 3D as much as you do Nikki.
I’m sure IM2 will be extremely successful, but it probably won’t have the staying power that The Dark Knight did, for obvious reasons. Prediction: $138 million opening weekend U.S., total domestic take of $380 million.
American films should open in the US FIRST.
Also internationally – Alice In Wonderland passed $900 million worldwide passing Harry Potter I, Spiderman 3, and Lord of the Rings 1 becoming the 14th highest grossing movie of all time. Wow. Who woulda thought.
You’re joking right?
The movie opened early overseas so that it would not conflict with the World Cup.
Umm…If Hollywood relies so much on the revenue of foreign audiences, pretty sure they’ve become a global product rather than an American one.
I think Marvel wanting to get ahead of the World Cup is why the film opened overseas first.
Uh…why?
You don’t really understand how this whole “profit” thing works in movies, do you?
I agree U.S. films should open in their own country first are U.S. film makers ashamed of their home. It’s time we started taking pride in our country again we have a lot to be proud of including our films after all isn’t this the birthplace of cinema!
You’re joking, right? France is, by most accounts, the birthplace of cinema. Ever heard of the Lumiere Brothers?
Deal with it. The US always gets movies before the rest of world. Time we had the fun.
Maybe you people in Europe would “get the fun” more if you could actually make some entertaining movies people wanted to see. Too bad you cant.
Oh, they do. They make them well.
And then America re-makes them and turns them into GARBAGE.
Of course, in this case we’re talking about “fun.” Saw it in London on Friday and found it long, talky and ponderous.
You’re definitely right.
They are trying to lessen piracy. By offering the movie in foreign markets they are hoping people will buy a ticket and see it rather than download a bootleg that was uploaded from the U.S.
@ Peggy
As it is correctly addressed in the article, most of the rest of the world will be watching the Soccer World Cup starting in June. And numbers will drop then, so it makes sense that they open IM2 as soon as possible there. It’s got nothing to do with the waah-waahing of “But American movies should open in America first”.
It’s merely good business sense.
It gives them a full week more to get B.O. revenue.
just see “iron man 2″ (it’s yet out in France),it’s less good than the first movie:the casting is great but underused because there is too many characters except RDJ,the action scenes look alike “transformer 2″,several scenes are too expeditives(for a 2h movie) and the surprise isn’t more here,the movie is lazy.
Iron Man 2 best movie of the year.
Agree.
What I find reaaaaally interesting is that tons of copies of IRON MAN 2 are now ALL over the web, not just videos camcorded in theaters, but copies off of screeners. Judgeing from what I’ve seen, Paramount has a bigger hit on its hands than it probably imagined.
Cant wait to see this—came as no shock this would/will do well $$
“Holy crappy movie being a massive success Batman!”
My ONLY complaint about IM2 is that given the uninspired product coming out this summer, it’s the only movie I have any interest in so, I wish it wasn’t so early in the schedule.
It’s gonna be a long summer with VERY few visits to the multiplex.
Brilliant move releasing it overseas first. $100mil in the bank before it opens in the US? Brilliant.
Glad to hear Iron Man Deux is packing a solid punch already. Look forward to seeing it. Box office records will surely fall.
But what I’m wondering is this: where is “Kickass”? Didn’t all the fanboys (and, yeah, fangirls, too!) proclaim that cascading world of mouth on that film would be OUT OF THIS WORLD? (Sarcasm, Sarcasm!) Guess people can officially proclaim “Kickass” a floppy-eared dog of a movie in which hype galloped ahead of anemic substance.
Sorry to sound clueless but is this figure really, really good, or pretty much what was expected from a big superhero sequel?
did iron man 2 open outside of the u.s. first for fear of reviews and bad word of mouth affecting both north american and foreign numbers? kick-ass opened in the uk and some other markets first too.
America, F*ck Yeah!
(Who cares whether we get it in the U.S. first. Our friends overseas should be thrown a bone occasionally…)
Releasing the movie first overseas is smart. The studios get far less money from movies in theaters overseas then they do the theaters in North America. Releasing it first overseas gives the movie much bigger hype and ultimately makes more money.
I think this movie will easily break The Dark Knight’s record of 158.4 million in its first weekend. This movie can easily make 180 to 200 million dollars in its first weekend which would be huge and would have a great shot at passing the so called greatest movie ever “Avatar”.
Um. I doubt “Iron Man 2″ will be breaking $3 billion dollars.
Unless you’re just talking about the opening weekend, in which case it probably will beat “Avatar”s opening weekend, because it already has a name brand and it’s a SEQUEL. The fact that “Avatar” made what it did with no name brand, etc. in it’s first weekend, was great – and then word of mouth spread, and it carried on to become the highest grossing film of all time. “Iron Man 2″ will be lucky if it hits $400 million. It’s not as good as the first film, and “The Dark Knight” it ain’t.
P.S. Not that I have anything against “Iron Man 2″, it’s a fun movie – but to compare those two films is just silly.
No I didn’t mean it will surpass Avatar worldwide. I just meant it will surpass it domestically. If Iron Man 2 can get some positive word of mouth going from fans(no one cares about the critics) then there is a chance this can make about 750 million dollars domestically. I don’t know how you can say Iron Man 2 will barely make 400 million dollars. The first film made 318.4 million domestically during its run and this movie will do far better. It will easily make 60 million dollars more than the first film did in its first weekend.
And by the way I was not comparing any films. I was just trying to make a point that Iron Man 2 has a great chance to break a lot of records and a chance to pass Avatar domestically.
In local currencies, the film opened 25% ahead of the original Iron Man (despite the fact that in those two years both the British pound and Euro have dropped significantly).
Nikki, if you’re talking about the film’s earnings in local currencies, then how does their fluctuation in the global market negatively affect the opening box office in that country?