‘Iron Man’ Is Impressive at the Box Office in Its Opening Weekend - New York Times

‘Iron Man’ Is Impressive at the Box Office in Its Opening Weekend - New York Times: "“Iron Man” blasted into the box office stratosphere over the weekend, selling an estimated $100.8 million in tickets at North American theaters and almost certainly establishing a new movie franchise for Marvel Entertainment.

“The word of mouth through the weekend was tremendous,” said David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, the New York entertainment company’s newly created film production unit. “I can’t think of a better start.”

Including international sales “Iron Man” grossed an estimated $201 million, according to Paramount Pictures, which distributed the $135 million film. The totals were slightly short of first-weekend sales for “Spider-Man,” the 2002 blockbuster that holds the record for the top nonsequel superhero movie opening."