What happened
Marvel Studios’ movie Iron Man, an adaptation of its comic book, grossed $104.2 million domestically and a combined $201 million worldwide in its first five days of release to join a short list of films—such as, The Passion of the Christ and I Am Legend—to top $75 million on opening weekend.
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“The only real challenge” that the “approximately $140-million film” faced at the box office was “Hollywood’s arch nemesis: Mr. Expectations,” said Josh Friedman in the Los Angeles Times. Distributor Paramount was “scrambling to talk down expectations for the film” out of “fear” that “a solid opening weekend of, say, $65 million could be seen as a disappointment.” Looks like they had nothing to worry about.
“Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment” took “a big risk” by “releasing a big blockbuster so early on in the year,” said the blog InEntertainment, but it obviously paid off. And “rumors are now coming in that Iron Man 2 has already been given the green light.”
