`Iron Man' alchemy translates to $98.6M opening weekend

LOS ANGELES - Fictional billionaire Tony Stark has made a fortune in Hollywood as the superhero adventure "Iron Man" pulled in $98.6 million domestically in its first weekend.

That's about $2 million less than distributor Paramount estimated Sunday, but still good enough to put "Iron Man" in second-place behind the original "Spider-Man" on the list of best debuts among nonsequels.

Counting overseas receipts, "Iron Man" already has taken in $200 million worldwide.

Marvel Studios announced Monday that it will have "Iron Man 2" in theaters April 30, 2010. Its slate of other comic-book adaptations includes next month's "The Incredible Hulk," plus "Thor" in summer 2010 and "The First Avenger: Captain America" and "The Avengers" in summer 2011.
"Iron Man" stars Robert Downey Jr. as Stark, a wealthy weapons designer who builds a high-tech metal suit to battle bad guys.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Media By Numbers LLC:

1. "Iron Man," Paramount, $98,618,668, 4,105 locations, $24,024 average, $102,118,668, one week.

2. "Made of Honor," Sony, $14,756,850, 2,729 locations, $5,407 average, $14,756,850, one week.

3. "Baby Mama," Universal, $10,065,010, 2,548 locations, $3,950 average, $32,062,480, two weeks.

4. "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay," Warner Bros., $6,114,373, 2,545 locations, $2,403 average, $25,369,337, two weeks.

5. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," Universal, $6,059,920, 2,872 locations, $2,110 average, $44,732,340, three weeks.

6. "The Forbidden Kingdom," Lionsgate, $4,187,897, 2,960 locations, $1,415 average, $45,112,303, three weeks.

7. "Nim's Island," Fox, $2,677,543, 2,478 locations, $1,081 average, $42,471,660, five weeks.

8. "Prom Night," Sony Screen Gems, $2,403,313, 2,434 locations, $987 average, $41,350,731, four weeks.

9. "21," Sony, $2,002,471, 2,242 locations, $893 average, $78,959,237, six weeks.

10. "88 Minutes," Sony, $1,545,084, 1,765 locations, $875 average, $15,368,925, three weeks.

11. "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!," Fox, $1,337,562, 1,463 locations, $914 average, $149,817,680, eight weeks.

12. "Deception," Fox, $883,417, 2,001 locations, $441 average, $4,000,654, two weeks.

13. "Drillbit Taylor," Paramount, $730,231, 427 locations, $1,710 average, $31,164,888, seven weeks.

14. "Street Kings," Fox Searchlight, $708,142, 855 locations, $828 average, $25,133,327, four weeks.
15. "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," Rocky Mountain Pictures, $678,304, 656 locations, $1,034 average, $6,613,256, three weeks.

16. "The Visitor," Overture Films, $606,597, 130 locations, $4,666 average, $1,576,256, four weeks.

17. "Leatherheads," Universal, $572,320, 1,022 locations, $560 average, $30,332,745, five weeks.

18. "Smart People," Miramax, $325,787, 401 locations, $812 average, $8,943,977, four weeks.
19. "Young At Heart," Fox Searchlight, $315,357, 121 locations, $2,606 average, $925,669, four weeks.

20. "Shine a Light," Paramount Vantage, $278,006, 142 locations, $1,958 average, $4,846,348, five weeks.

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Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Rogue Pictures are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.; Sony Pictures, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; DreamWorks, Paramount and Paramount Classics are divisions of Viacom Inc.; Disney's parent is The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is a division of The Walt Disney Co.; 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox Atomic are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros., New Line, Warner Independent and Picturehouse are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a consortium of Providence Equity Partners, Texas Pacific Group, Sony Corp., Comcast Corp., DLJ Merchant Banking Partners and Quadrangle Group; Lionsgate is owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp.; IFC Films is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.
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