NEW YORK—"Iron Man" had the power this weekend, as the Marvel superhero took the screen by storm with one of the largest U.S. openings in history.
Aided by heavy advertising and positive reviews, "Iron Man" opened with a gross of $100.7 million in the U.S., the second-biggest ever for a non-sequel, after "Spider-Man." The movie was produced by Marvel Entertainment Inc. and distributed by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures studio.
On Monday, Marvel said a sequel to "Iron Man" is schedule for 2010. The movie stars Robert Downey Jr. as the title hero, alias of industrialist Tony Stark.
"Iron Man" blew past Wall Street expectations over the weekend; RBC analyst David Bank said Wall Street was expecting the movie to earn $60 million to $75 million. He now thinks the movie's final gross could be more than $300 million. Bank originally estimated a total of $155 million.
Debuting in a distant second place was Sony Corp.'s romantic comedy "Made of Honor," which made $15.5 million.
Universal Pictures' comedy "Baby Mama," last week's top movie, added $10.3 million to its total over the weekend. The film stars Tina Fey, along with Amy Poehler as a woman chosen to be a surrogate mother. Universal is part owned by General Electric Co.
A second Universal entrant, the comedy "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," made $6.1 million.
Blessed with a title that was also a partial plot summary, stoner buddy comedy "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay" took in $6 million. The sequel was made by Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. unit.
Martial arts action story "The Forbidden Kingdom," which brings together the stylings of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, made $4.2 million. The movie came from Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. and The Weinstein Co.
20th Century Fox fantasy film "Nim's Island" earned $2.8 million. 20th Century Fox is a unit of News Corp.
A triad of Sony Corp. films rounded out the weekend top ten: Screen Gems slasher film "Prom Night," which made $2.5 million, Columbia Pictures' gambling drama "21," with $2.1 million," and Al Pacino thriller "88 Minutes," from TriStar Pictures, pulled down $1.6 million.
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