Box office report for May 10, 2010: “Iron Man 2″ blasts to No. 1
“Iron Man 2″ blasted to the top of the box office charts over the weekend, earning $133.6 million domestically in its anticipated opening.
According to the Associated Press, the sequel’s opening opening rocketed past the original film’s $98.6 million debut in 2008 and landed the record as the fifth-biggest opening weekend.
“We’re thrilled with the combination of the way it’s playing across the board,” Don Harris, Paramount’s vice president of distribution, told the AP. “It’s playing as a fanboy movie, but it’s also playing as family movie, too. I even know a bunch of people who are planning to take their mothers to see ‘Iron Man 2′ on Mother’s Day, which really made me chuckle.”
The film stars Robert Downey Jr. as wisecracking genius industrialist Tony Stark, who became the armored superhero Iron Man in the first film. In the sequel, he faces a new villain in Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke).
“Iron Man 2″ has taken in $194 million overseas since it debuted in many international markets last week, bringing its worldwide total to over $327 million. While Hollywood blockbusters typically open around the same date in most countries, some get an overseas jump of a week or more on their U.S. debuts. The biggest opening came from China with $7.3 million, according to the AP.
“It’s a perfect kickoff to the summer of 2010,” Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com, told the AP. “It literally sets the tone for the entire summer movie season. To have the fifth biggest opening week of all time certainly sends a message that this summer season is going to make its mark. Audiences really do get caught up in that.”
“Iron Man 2,” which is only available in 2-D, shot to the top of the charts at a time when 3-D films like “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland” have recently dominated the box office. IMAX chairman and president Greg Foster told the AP that the $10.2 million earned by “Iron Man 2″ from IMAX theaters set IMAX’s 2-D record, beating out the $8.5 million debut of “Star Trek” last year.
“When we opened the original ‘Iron Man,’ it seemed to be one of the lesser known properties in the Marvel galaxy,” Paramount’s Harris told the AP. “Two years later, it’s one of the most beloved characters. I think the people at Marvel are incredibly bullish about how future ‘Iron Man’ movies might do and how ‘Iron Man’ interacts with their other characters.”
Despite the triumph over its predecessor, “Iron Man 2″ didn’t beat out fellow superhero debuts like the $158.4 million bow of “The Dark Knight” in 2008 or the $151.1 million debut of “Spider-Man 3″ in 2007. It also didn’t surpass last year’s $142.8 million dawn of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” or the $135.6 million course charted by “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” in 2006.
The previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, the Warner Bros. remake of the fright feature “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” fell to No. 2 with $9.1 million, clawing to a total of $48.5 million. DreamWorks Animation’s family adventure “How to Train Your Dragon” remained at No. 3 with $6.7 million, bringing its seven-week total to $201 million.
“Babies,” the Focus Features documentary that tracks four infants during the first year of their lives, was the only other new release, debuting in 534 theaters at the No. 10 spot with $1.5 million.
Here are the top 10 movies from the weekend, according to the AP:
1. “Iron Man 2,” $133.6 million.
2. “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” $9.1 million.
3. “How to Train Your Dragon,” $6.7 million.
4. “Date Night,” $5.3 million.
5. “The Back-up Plan,” $4.3 million.
6. “Furry Vengeance,” $4 million.
7. “Clash of the Titans,” $2.3 million.
8. “Death at a Funeral,” $2.1 million.
9. “The Losers,” $1.8 million.
10. “Babies,” $1.5 million.
-BAM
Movie review: “Iron Man 2″
Robert Downey Jr., left, stars as Tony Stark AKA Iron Man and Don Cheadle plays Col. James Rhodes AKA War Machine in “Iron Man 2.”
Robert Downey Jr. reprises his role as the wisecracking, lovably narcissistic billionaire-turned-superhero Tony Stark in “Iron Man 2,” with director Jon Favreau again overseeing the explosive action and witty banter with a clever and steady eye.
Not quite as entertaining as its 2008 predecessor but still loads of fun, the hotly anticipated sequel gets the summer blockbuster season off to a promising, bombastic start.
“Iron Man 2″ gets rolling before the Paramount logo even gets off the screen, replaying the final moments of the first film, in which Stark goes against everyone’s advice and reveals his heroic alter ego.
That rash decision earns the scrutiny of the U.S. government, particularly smarmy Sen. Stern (Garry Shandling), who wants to force the weapons developer to turn over the Iron Man suit to the military. Stark’s refusal puts him in conflict with his best pal, Col. James Rhodes (Don Cheadle, authoritatively stepping in for Terrence Howard, who originated the role), even when Tony produces evidence that the rest of the world – including weaselly rival industrialist Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) – is years away from successfully copying his high-tech armor.
Tony’s big reveal also brings him to the attention of Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a troubled Russian physicist whose father worked with Stark’s late dad. Vanko blames the Stark family for his own clan’s downfall and plots to take very public revenge on Iron Man.
When Vanko’s dying papa provides him with plans for the mini arc reactor that runs the Iron Man suit, the vengeful son creates his own power unit and a set of nasty mechanical whips. After an explosive battle between Iron Man and Vanko AKA Whiplash – one of the movie’s best setpieces – Hammer reaches out to the fledgling supervillain.
And Tony becomes increasingly withdrawn and self-destructive, puzzling his loyal assistant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), whom he makes CEO of Stark Industries, and her sexy successor as Tony’s PA, Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson), who is harboring a secret.
Tony has a secret of his own: Only his supercomputer Jarvis (voice of Paul Bettany) realizes that the palladium in the arc reactor that keeps him alive is slowly poisoning him. Tony desperately searches for an alternative power source, getting help from superhero overseer Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson, who appeared after the final credits of “Iron Man”). Fury believes the answer to the life-or-death problem lies in some of the personal effects Tony’s father, Howard Stark (John Slattery), left behind.
Like many superhero movie sequels, “Iron Man 2″ comes a bit overstuffed with baddies and explosions and it can’t quite recapture the charm of our first meeting the larger-than-life characters. But it still qualifies as a fantastic and fun follow-up, with a mystery in the middle that lets the audience get to know the smart-alecky Stark a bit better.
The action sequences are thrilling, the one-liners zippy (even if some of the good ones in the trailers didn’t make the final cut) and the casting superb. And Marvel fans definitely should keep their seats all the way through the end credits.
The second installment makes me look forward to Favreau, Downey and the rest hopefully kicking off another blockbuster season with “Iron Man 3″ in a couple of years.
- BAM
BAM’s Blog and Staticblog present the 2010 summer movie preview
“Iron Man 2″
Staticblog’s George Lang and I have labored long and hard to round up our annual summer movie preview, seeking out each and every cinematic specimen – from the potential studs to the clearcut culls – due out in theaters this season. It also appears in Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Summer movie roundup: Sequels, remakes and adaptations abound
By early May, having been through the serious art of Oscar season, a switch flips in moviegoers’ collective brains and they start craving adrenaline surges. It’s summer, and even the most self-serious critics start salivating over the latest Pixar movie, or the one gazillion-dollar effects extravaganza that doesn’t treat audiences like illiterate chumps. Fun is in order, stadium-seating style.
The bitter pill to be choked back and washed down with a $5 soda is that this summer is chockablock with sequels, remakes and adaptations — this might be the most market-tested movie season in cinematic history.
Which still doesn’t diminish expectations for “Iron Man 2,” mainly because director Jon Favreau is not some Michael Bay-style hack, taking pleasure-center readouts from Maxim subscribers and front-loading them into big, dumb, CG-heavy flicks. And there’s more — much, much more. It’s a summer movie explosion, and Bay has nothing to do with it.
So note the most promising potential blockbusters on your calendar. But remember that movie studios often shift release dates, so check your local listings before heading to the theater.
Today
Robert Downey Jr. returns as the man in the red suit in “Iron Man 2,” doing battle with Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) and undercover spy Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in what is possibly the most anticipated movie of the summer.
For something a lot cuddlier, there is “Babies,” a documentary following the first year in the lives of babies in Mongolia, San Francisco, Tokyo and Namibia.
“Robin Hood”
May 14
Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe tromp into Sherwood Forest for the yet another retelling of the “Robin Hood” saga, with Cate Blanchett as Marian and Matthew Macfadyen (“Pride and Prejudice”) as the Sherriff of Nottingham.
That bow-and-arrow fest is counterprogrammed by “Letters to Juliet,” in which a young woman (ingénue du jour Amanda Seyfried) finds one of the many notes left for William Shakespeare’s fictional heroine at her Verona home.
In “Just Wright,” a physical therapist (Queen Latifah) falls for NBA all-star Scott McKnight (Common), but has to compete for his affections with his childhood friend (Paula Patton), who has trophy-wife dreams.
“Shrek Forever After”
May 21
Now picking his ears in 3-D, Shrek (Mike Myers) returns in “Shrek Forever After,” only to find his fairytale home in shambles and waging war with Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) in what is expected to be the final chapter — unless it just rakes in tons of green.
Meanwhile, Will Forte takes his “MacGruber” character from “Saturday Night Live” to the big screen, where he attempts to recover a nuclear warhead stolen by his arch nemesis (Val Kilmer, of course).
“Sex and the City 2″
May 27
There might be a wedding — or not — but Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Charlotte (Kristin Davis) and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) encounter shoes, sexual hijinks, an Abu Dhabi getaway, Liza Minnelli and possibly a flashback sequence in “Sex and the City 2.”
“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”
May 28
Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), a former street urchin adopted by royalty, must recover some mystical dirt from an evil overlord (Ben Kingsley) in the video game adaptation, “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.”
Then, zombies invade a bucolic island refuge as powerful factions argue over whether to kill or cure the rotting brain masticators in George A. Romero’s “Survival of the Dead.”
“Iron Man 2″ opens at midnight, kicking off summer blockbuster season
One of the year’s most anticipated movies, “Iron Man 2″ opens with midnight screenings around the country, officially marking the start of the summer blockbuster season.
According to our pal Matt Price of Nerdage, as of 10 a.m. today, “Iron Man 2” accounted for 90 percent of all ticket sales at www.MovieTickets.com.
While plenty of tickets remain available overall, as of 10 a.m. today, the site reported 842 sellouts for “Iron Man 2,” including 255 for midnight showings of the film.
The sequel reunites director Jon Favreau with charismatic star Robert Downey Jr. as wisecracking billionaire genius Tony Stark, who became an armored superhero in 2008′s “Iron Man.”
Based on the Marvel comic, the sequel also brings back Gwyneth Paltrow as Stark’s efficient personal assistant Pepper Potts, Paul Bettany as the voice of Stark’s super-computer Jarvis, and Samuel L. Jackson as superhero overseer Nick Fury, who appeared after the credits in “Iron Man.”
New to the franchise are Don Cheadle, who replaces Terrence Howard as Col. James “Rhodey” Rhodes, Mickey Rourke as the villainous Ivan Vanko, Scarlett Johansson as a sexy new PA with a secret and Sam Rockwell as Stark’s rival weapons industrialist Justin Hammer.
Interviews with several stars from “Iron Man 2″ have been posted throughout the week on entertainment portal www.Planet46.com. Check them out.
Check out my review of the slam-bang sequel here on the blog Friday, along with the massive summer movie preview that Staticblog’s George Lang and I have assembled for your reading enjoyment.
-BAM
Box office report for May 3, 2010: Moviegoers welcome another “Nightmare on Elm Street”
Freddy Krueger clawed his way back to the top of the box office over the weekend, according to the Associated Press.
The remake of the slasher flick “A Nightmare on Elm Street” led the weekend with a $32.2 million debut domestically, the AP reports. Released by New Line, the movie features Jackie Earle Haley as Krueger, a psycho killer who stalks and slays victims in their dreams.
Slasher films typically drop steeply in their second weekends, since hardcore horror fans rush out to see them in the first few days. But “A Nightmare on Elm Street” already is headed toward a solid profit after an opening weekend that roughly matched its modest production budget of just over $30 million, according to the AP.
Given the history of slasher sagas — the original 1984 “A Nightmare on Elm Street” was followed by seven sequels — the franchise likely has a long life ahead of it.
But “A Nightmare on Elm Street” was unable to match the remake of “Friday the 13th,” which scared up a $40 million opening weekend in February 2009.
The weekend’s other new wide release, Brendan Fraser’s family comedy “Furry Vengeance,” bombed with just $6.5 million. The Summit Entertainment release stars Fraser as a housing developer attacked by the cute woodland creatures whose habitat is threatened by construction.
The previous weekend’s No. 1 movie, DreamWorks Animation’s steadily soaring hit “How to Train Your Dragon,” slipped to second place with $10.8 million, raising its total to $192.4 million.
While the redo of “A Nightmare on Elm Street” opened well, the box office continued to experience a lull in preparation for Hollywood’s busy season – summer blockbuster season.
With “Iron Man 2,” new potential blockbusters will start arriving virtually every weekend through August. Based on the Marvel comic book, 2008′s “Iron Man premiered domestically with a whopping $98.6 million weekend, ranking No. 15 on the chart for best debuts.
Iron Man 2,’ I’m prepared to say, is going to be one of the biggest openings of all time. Interest is huge,” Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com, told the AP.
Paramount’s “Iron Man 2″ got off to a heroic international head start on its domestic debut this Friday, pulling in $100.2 million in 53 foreign markets. While Hollywood blockbusters typically open around the same date in most countries, some get an overseas jump of a week or more on their U.S. debuts, according to the AP.
“Iron Man 2″ brought in $12.2 million in Great Britain, $10.8 million in South Korea, $8.8 million in Australia and $8.2 million in France. According to Paramount, the sequel had bigger openings than 2008′s “Iron Man” in every market.
“Iron Man 2″ continues the story of Robert Downey Jr.’s billionaire superhero Tony Stark, a flawed and funny genius who builds himself a metal suit loaded with gadgets. Mickey Rourke co-stars as a new enemy with his own high-tech arsenal.
It’s “Iron Man 2″ week all this week on entertainment portal Planet46.com, starting with today with Matt Price’s feature on “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2″ director Jon Favreau. It’s a must-read, so click here to read it.
1. “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” $32.2 million.
2. “How to Train Your Dragon,” $10.8 million.
3. “Date Night,” $7.6 million.
4. “The Back-up Plan,” $7.2 million.
5. “Furry Vengeance,” $6.5 million.
6. “The Losers,” $6 million.
7. “Clash of the Titans,” $5.98 million.
8. “Kick-a**,” $4.5 million.
9. “Death at a Funeral,” $4 million.
10. “Oceans,” $2.6 million.
- BAM
Friday Featured Track for April 30, 2010: Thunderstruck!
The song that has been on my brain the most this week:
- “Thunderstruck,” AC/DC, from the 1990 album “Razor’s Edge.”
In honor of the valiant dogfight the Oklahoma City Thunder is waging tonight against the defending NBA champion L.A. Lakers at the Ford Center, I’m getting “Thunderstruck” here on BAM’s Blog.
If you’re not watching Game 6 of the Thunder-Lakers first-round playoff series on ESPN tonight, well, you should be. It’s a must-win game for the Thunder, and if you’re an Oklahoman – or someone who just can appreciate rooting on an awesome, hard-working young team – then it’s a must-watch.
And if you need another reason to listen to AC/DC on a Friday night – and really, why should you? – the hotly anticipated sequel “Iron Man 2″ opens in theaters next week. AC/DC is providing the soundtrack for the film.
-BAM
Wednesday Video Spotlight: “Iron Man 2,” “Eclipse” and more trailers
The summer movie season is drawing ever closer, and we’re getting ready for it by featuring more trailers and clips:
- BAM
Box office report for April 26, 2010: “Dragon” burns “The Back-Up Plan”
DreamWorks Animation’s steadily soaring “How to Train Your Dragon” continues to heat up the box office.
Released a month ago, the animated adventure took in $15 million to reclaim the No. 1 spot in its fifth weekend in theaters, according to the Associated Press. “How to Train Your Dragon” opened in first place in late March, but has held up strongly and climbed to the top again amid a pack of middling new releases.
The well-reviewed family film raised its total to $178 million and is on its way to becoming a $200 million hit. It seems poised to rank among DreamWorks’ most successful animated films outside the “Shrek” franchise.
Jennifer Lopez’s romantic comedy “The Back-up Plan,” released by CBS Films, debuted weakly with $12.3 million for second place. Another comedy, Steve Carell and Tina Fey’s “Date Night” from 20th Century Fox, ranked at No. 3 with $10.6 million, raising its total to $63.5 million.
Among the weekend’s other newcomers, the Warner Bros. action flick “The Losers” made just $9.6 million to place in fourth place. Disney’s Earth Day nature film “Oceans” had a solid opening for a documentary, coming in at No. 8 with $6 million, according to the AP.
The scandalous superhero story “Kick-A**” dropped to No. 5, after narrowly beating out “Dragon” for first place the previous weekend. In its second weekend, “Kick-Ass” made $9.5 million, down 52 percent from its debut, lifting its total to $34.9 million.
Overall Hollywood revenues should top out at about $100 million, the lowest-grossing weekend of the year, reports the AP.
Fans may simply be watching their pennies amid the slow economic recovery, saving their money for the onslaught of summer blockbusters that starts May 7 with a little superhero film called “Iron Man 2.”
Here is the weekend top 10 list, from the AP:
1. “How to Train Your Dragon,” $15 million.
2. “The Back-up Plan,” $12.3 million.
3. “Date Night,” $10.6 million.
4. “The Losers,” $9.6 million.
5. “Kick-Ass,” $9.5 million.
6. “Clash of the Titans,” $9 million.
7. “Death at a Funeral,” $8 million.
8. “Oceans,” $6 million.
9. “The Last Song,” $3.7 million.
10. “Alice in Wonderland,” $2.2 million.
- BAM
Upcoming IMAX movies for 2010
From the Outlook 2010 special section of The Oklahoman.
Here is a list of films due to be released later this year in IMAX. Release dates are subject to change, so go to www.amcentertainment.com before heading to Oklahoma City’s IMAX theater, located inside AMC Quail Springs 24.
“Iron Man 2” — May 7
“Shrek Forever After” — May 21
“Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” — May 28
“Toy Story 3” — June 18
“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” — June 30
“Inception” — July 16
“Aftershock” — July 28
“Hubble 3D” — Aug. 13
“Tron: Legacy” — Dec. 17
-BAM
IMAX theater changes moviegoing for Oklahoma City film fans
Patrons wear 3D glasses during a showing of “Avatar: An IMAX 3D Experience” on Dec. 18 at the grand opening of the new IMAX house at AMC Quail Springs 24 movie theater. (Photo by Doug Hoke/The Oklahoman Archive)
From the 2010 Outlook special section of The Oklahoman.
IMAX transforms movie options
Oklahoma City opened its first IMAX theater just in time to give local moviegoers a larger-than-life view of pioneering advances in filmmaking technology.
The IMAX auditorium at AMC Quail Springs 24 showed its first film, Robert Zemeckis’ (“The Polar Express”) motion-capture 3-D animated version of “A Christmas Carol,” last November. A month later, the theater celebrated its grand opening with James Cameron’s (“Titanic”) groundbreaking sci-fi 3-D epic “Avatar.”
“IMAX theaters enable audiences to take full advantage of the latest cutting-edge filmmaking technology that the best filmmakers are using today, and a great example of that would be ‘Avatar,’” said Jackson Myers, IMAX director of corporate communications.
The futuristic tale has upended Cameron’s “Titanic” as the biggest money-making film of all time. Three months after its release, “Avatar” remained in the top 10 on the box office charts, having taken in $736.9 million domestically and $2.67 billion worldwide.
Cameron reportedly took 10 years and nearly $250 million to make “Avatar” using advanced CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3-D imagery.
Technology benefits
The Oklahoma City IMAX house allowed moviegoers to see the high-tech film in a high-tech format. IMAX theaters combine two digital projectors with a proprietary “image enhancer” and custom lenses to give images greater clarity, brightness and contrast.
IMAX’s special sound system features proprietary loudspeaker technology and uncompressed digital sound.
To upgrade AMC Quail Springs’ auditorium No. 2, about 75 seats were removed to make way for the larger, curved IMAX screen.
“It’s been a very successful location, and the reason it’s successful and the reason most IMAX theaters are successful is they offer a moviegoing experience you can’t get anywhere else,” Myers said.
With the record-breaking success of “Avatar,” Hollywood is rushing out more films in 3-D. Upcoming 3-D movies that will be released in IMAX include “Toy Story 3,” “Shrek Forever After” and “Tron: Legacy.”
“The IMAX’s format is a fantastic way to experience 3-D films because IMAX theaters offer the most immersive type of 3-D experience you can get in a theater,” Myers said.
“We are seeing more and more 3-D films, but it’s important to know that … there will be future great films that are released in 2-D that will also look incredible.”
Anticipated 2-D films “Iron Man 2,” “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” “Prince of Persia: Sands of Time” and “Inception” will appear in IMAX this year.
Theater successes
The demand clearly was present for an Oklahoma City IMAX theater, AMC spokesman Justin Scott said.
“It’s performed better than we thought,” said Scott, who wouldn’t release local attendance figures or ticket sales, citing company policy. “It’s doing really well. These IMAX auditoriums … are very popular right now because there’s really good content out there. There’s really good movies that people want to see that IMAX is adapting to their specific experience, and ‘Avatar’ is a huge example.”
The addition allows AMC Quail Springs to offer theatergoers more options. When “Avatar” opened, people could see it in 2-D, 3-D or IMAX 3-D, depending on what they wanted to pay. IMAX tickets cost $4 more.
“In the economy today, obviously the box office is doing really well. Like, it’s been a record year,” Scott said. “Many people are giving up their vacations, their season tickets and other more expensive forms of out-of-home entertainment, but a movie’s still affordable.”
Quality of life
Mayor Mick Cornett said the IMAX house augments Oklahoma City’s quality of life, particularly for educated young people the city is trying to recruit and retain. To celebrate the auditorium’s grand opening, he declared AMC IMAX Day in the city.
“It’s become an expectation for a lot of theatergoers that a city worth living in, worth visiting, is going to have the highest level of entertainment offerings,” he said. “To a certain part of the population that’s into the highest levels of pop culture and technology, they’re going to wonder what’s wrong with a city that doesn’t have all the amenities of other cities. So there’s a sense of pride to a city that offers whatever’s the newest and best.”
-BAM
