Iron Man 3 tops box office with $175M opening weekend

Published May 05, 2013

Associated Press

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  This film publicity image released by Disney-Marvel Studios shows Robert Downey Jr., left, as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts in a scene from "Iron Man 3."AP/Disney/Marvel Studios

LOS ANGELES –  Iron Man is a bigger golden boy than ever with a $175.3 million opening weekend at the domestic box office for the superhero's latest sequel.

According to studio estimates Sunday, "Iron Man 3" had the second-biggest debut ever, behind the $207.4 million start last year for "The Avengers," which teamed him with other Marvel Comics heroes.

Opening a week earlier overseas, "Iron Man 3" has hauled in $504.8 million internationally, giving the blockbuster a worldwide total of $680.1 million.

The film shot past the $312 million international total for "Iron Man 2" in its entire theatrical run.

"Iron Man 3" far outpaced the franchise's first two movies. "Iron Man" launched the series with a $98.6 million domestic debut in 2008, while 2010's "Iron Man 2" opened with $128.1 million.

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Fans flock to Scranton for 'The Office' farewell party

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  May 3, 2013: The "Office" actors, Phyllis Smith and Ellie Kemper, sign autographs outside the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Scranton, Pa.AP/THE SCRANTON TIMES-TRIBUNE

SCRANTON, Pa. –  The actors who play Pam, Jim, Dwight and other beloved characters from the popular NBC show "The Office" bade farewell on Saturday to the northeastern Pennsylvania city of Scranton that served as the TV setting for their fictional paper company.

The NBC mockumentary about a clan of quirky cubicle-dwellers at the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Co. wraps up May 16 after nine seasons, and a crowd estimated at 10,000 attended a "Wrap Party" in Scranton to show their appreciation.

Jenna Fischer, John Krasinski, Rainn Wilson and other stars rode in classic convertibles and posed for hundreds of photos as fans thronged around them. The stars later took the stage in front of the Lackawanna County Courthouse and played a concert with The Scrantones, the band that performed the show's theme song.

Fischer teared up as she rode down Linden Street, overwhelmed by the adoring crowds. Krasinski said afterward that he couldn't process it.

"To have this many people coming out of their way, driving from different places, to just see us and just say thank you is totally bizarre. You have a lot of amazing experiences when you have this gig, but there's nothing like people genuinely saying thank you," he said." I don't think we ever realized how many people we had touched."

Briquelle Hoppes, 22, of Louisville, Ky., drove 11 hours with her fiance and two friends -- skipping town on Kentucky Derby day -- to attend the Wrap Party, keeping themselves awake overnight by playing old "Office" episodes through the car speakers and shouting "Ain't no party like a Scranton party `cause a Scranton party don't stop," a classic line from the show.

She said she never misses an episode and frequently laughs so hard she cries.

"It appeals to a particular sense of humor and that's us 100 percent," she said. "It's very awkward, and I find awkward situations hilarious."

While the comedy was shot in California, it made liberal use of props from Scranton and referenced plenty of real-life landmarks, from Cooper's Seafood House and Poor Richard's pub to Lake Wallenpaupack and the Lackawanna County Coal Mine Tour.

Scranton hosted a similar blowout, the "Office Convention," in 2007.

On stage Saturday, Wilson paid fans the ultimate backhanded compliment -- befitting his character, Dwight Schrute, a paper salesman utterly lacking in social graces.

"`The Office' fans are the greatest fans in the world!" he said. "Next to Seahawks fans."

The cast was appearing later Saturday at a celebration just outside the city at PNC Field, home of the New York Yankees' Triple A affiliate.

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'Iron Man 3' rules world, 'Pain & Gain' takes top box office spot in US

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  US actor Robert Downey Jr arrives for the UK premiere of Iron Man 3, at a central London cinema, Thursday, April 18, 2013. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP)

LOS ANGELES –  "Iron Man 3" was the heavy-lifter at theaters with a colossal overseas debut that overshadowed a gang of mercenary bodybuilders in a sleepy pre-summer weekend at the domestic box office.

The Marvel Studios superhero sequel starring Robert Downey Jr. got a head-start on its domestic launch next Friday with a $195.3 million opening in 42 overseas markets, distributor Disney reported Sunday.

That topped the $185.1 million start for Marvel's "The Avengers," which opened in 39 markets over the same weekend last year a week ahead of its record-breaking domestic debut of $207.4 million.

"You don't know that you could ever repeat the kind of experience we had a year ago, and here the Marvel team brought together another incredible movie," said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney. "We've had this as a pattern for Marvel films to kind of let momentum internationally help signal to the domestic audience that the film is coming, something big is coming."

Director Michael Bay's true-crime tale "Pain & Gain" muscled into first-place domestically with a $20 million debut.

The Paramount release starring Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson and Anthony Mackie knocked off Tom Cruise's sci-fi adventure "Oblivion" after a week in the No. 1 spot. Universal's "Oblivion" slipped to second-place with $17.4 million, raising its domestic total to $64.7 million.

Lionsgate's all-star nuptial comedy "The Big Wedding" tanked at No. 4 with just $7.5 million. The ensemble cast includes Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon and Katherine Heigl, but the movie was almost universally trashed by critics and held little interest for audiences.

Paramount, which distributed the earlier "Iron Man" movies and still has a financial stake in the comic-book flicks after Disney bought Marvel, had a small-scale success with "Pain & Gain."

A passion project for Bay, who has made Paramount a fortune with his "Transformers" franchise, "Pain & Gain" was shot for a modest $26 million, spare change compared to the director's usual budgets.

The movie has the director taking a breather from his usual sci-fi action spectacles for a story based on a kidnapping-extortion caper carried out by bodybuilders in the 1990s. Yet "Pain & Gain" still has Bay's usual visual flair, and the reviews generally were better than what he's used to.

"With that kind of budget, to open to $20 million the first weekend is a very strong opening," said Don Harris, Paramount's head of distribution. "You see what a director really in his prime, at the top of his game, can do with a small budget, what he can make a movie look like."

"Oblivion" was down a fairly steep 53 percent from the movie's $37.1 million domestic debut the previous weekend.

Overseas, "Oblivion" took in $12.8 million to lift its international haul to $134.1 million and worldwide total to just under $200 million.

Hollywood's domestic downturn continued, with revenues totaling $90 million, off 18.5 percent from the same weekend last year, when "Think Like a Man" led with $17.6 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

Receipts have trailed 2012's for most of the year, with 2013 domestic ticket sales running at $2.9 billion, nearly 12 percent behind last year's.

That pattern could continue as Hollywood opens its summer season domestically this coming weekend. Despite a huge haul expected for "Iron Man 3," the film will be competing against that gigantic start over the same weekend last year for "The Avengers," the only movie to open with more than $200 million domestically.

"Iron Man 2" debuted with $128.1 million over the first weekend in May 2010. Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian has been pegging the "Iron Man 3" potential at $125 million-plus, though the mammoth international start could fire up domestic prospects even higher.

"This ups the ante in a big way for "Iron Man 3," Dergarabedian said. "It just raises the profile of the film. It raises expectations. But to expect something in the realm of $207.4 million? Well, the fact that we're even talking about it is really amazing."

Said Disney's Hollis: "I wouldn't even want to get ahead of ourselves on something like that. But to say we're encouraged by the results this weekend would be a gross understatement."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. "Pain & Gain," $20 million.

2. "Oblivion," $17.4 million ($12.8 million international).

3. "42," $10.7 million.

4. "The Big Wedding," $7.5 million.

5. "The Croods," $6.6 million ($13.1 million international).

6. "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," $3.6 million ($10.2 million international).

7. "Scary Movie 5," $3.5 million.

8. "Olympus Has Fallen," $2.8 million.

9. "The Place Beyond the Pines," $2.7 million.

10. "Jurassic Park" in 3-D, $2.3 million ($410,000 international).

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'Oz' stays atop box office with $42.2 million

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  This file film image provided by Disney Enterprises shows James Franco, as Oz, left, and the character Finley, voiced by Zach Braff, in a scene from "Oz the Great and Powerful." Oz the Great and Powerful is living up to its name at the box office. Walt Disney's 3-D blockbuster has led all films for the second week in a row, taking in $42.2 million according to studio estimates.AP/Disney Enterprises

NEW YORK –  "Oz the Great and Powerful" is living up to its name at the box office.

Walt Disney's 3-D blockbuster led all films for the second week in a row, taking in $42.2 million according to studio estimates Sunday. Sam Raimi's prequel to the L. Frank Baum classic "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" also took in $46.6 million overseas, leading to a two-week worldwide total of $281.8 million.

In a winter of underperforming releases, that makes "Oz" easily the biggest hit of 2013 so far.

"Boy, did we need it," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "There have been a lot of box-office casualties this year. This is the shot in the arm that we needed, but we're still waiting for the marketplace to gain some sort of momentum."

The box office is down nearly 13 percent from last year.

Among the weekend's debuts, the Halle Berry thriller "The Call" far exceeded expectations with a $17.1 million opening for Sony and TriStar Pictures. The Steve Carell magician comedy "The Incredible Burt Wonderstone" fared worse, opening with a disappointing $10.3 million for Warner Bros.

The performances of the two new releases continued a theme of 2013: Movies targeting female audiences have had more success than male-driven films. "The Call," in which Berry plays a 911 operator, was deliberately marketed to women, who made up 61 percent of its audience, Sony said. "Burt Wonderstone," starring Carell and Jim Carey as rival Las Vegas magicians, sought a young male comedy audience that didn't materialize.

Female turnout has driven most all of the box office hits of the year, including the Melissa McCarthy comedy "Identity Thief" and the vampire romance "Warm Bodies." Macho films like Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Last Stand" and Sylvester Stallone's "Bullet to the Head" have fizzled.

"Studios should take note," says Dergarabedian. "There's a lot of female power going on at the box office."

Opening in just three theaters in New York and Los Angeles was another film starring James Franco, who plays the Wizard in "Oz the Great and Poweful." ''Spring Breakers," a dreamy trip of day-glo debauchery starring Franco, Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens, opened with a strong $90,000 per-theater average ahead of its wider release next weekend.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday:

1."Oz the Great and Powerful," $42.2 million. ($46.6 million international.)

2."The Call," $17.1 million.

3."The Incredible Burt Wonderstone," $10.3 million.

4."Jack the Giant Slayer," $6.2 million.

5."Identity Thief," $4.5 million.

6."Snitch," $3.5 million.

7."21 and Over," $2.6 million.

8."Silver Linings Playbook," $2.6 million.

9."Safe Haven," $2.5 million.

10."Escape From Planet Earth," $2.3 million.

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Disney's 'Oz' prequel bewitches box office with $80 million debut

LOS ANGELES –  "Oz the Great and the Powerful" clicked with moviegoers.

Disney's 3-D prequel to the classic L. Frank Baum tale "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" debuted in first place and earned $80.3 million at the weekend box office in the U.S. and Canada and $69.9 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"Oz" tells the origin of James Franco as the wizard with Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz as the trio of witches he encounters after crashing in the mystical realm of Oz.

The updated take on "Oz," which was directed by original "Spider-Man" trilogy mastermind Sam Raimi, was a gamble that looks like it will pay off for the Walt Disney Co. The film reportedly cost $200 million and opened a week after "Jack the Giant Slayer," another big-budget 3-D extravaganza that reimagines a classic tale, flopped in its opening weekend, debuting with $28 million at the box office.

"Oz" was also golden overseas. The film conjured up $69.9 million from 46 foreign markets, including Russia and the United Kingdom. "Oz" could follow in the footsteps of Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," another costly 3-D film, which opened on the same weekend in 2010 and went on to gross over $1 billion worldwide.

"'Oz' is the shot in the arm that the industry needed," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "We had six consecutive weekends where the box office was down. As a result, we're at a 12-and-a-half percent deficit year-to-date on box office revenues versus last year. Not a lot of movies have worked. There have been several underperformers."

In its second weekend, "Jack" stomped out second place behind "Oz" with $10 million, dropping 62 percent since its opening weekend. It earned just $4.9 million overseas. "Jack," based on the Jack and the Beanstalk fable, was directed by Bryan Singer and stars Nicholas Hoult and Ewan McGregor.

The only other new release this weekend, the FilmDistrict revenge drama "Dead Man Down" starring Colin Farrell and Noomi Rapace, opened in fourth place with $5.3 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday:

1. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $80.3 million. ($69.9 million international.)

2. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $10 million. ($4.9 million international.)

3. "Identity Thief," $6.3 million.

4. "Dead Man Down," $5.3 million.

5. "Snitch," $5.1 million. ($4.7 million international.)

6. "21 & Over," $5 million.

7. "Safe Haven," $3.8 million.

8. "Silver Linings Playbook," $3.7 million. ($6 million international.)

9. "Escape from Planet Earth," $3.2 million.

10. "The Last Exorcism Part II," $3.1 million.

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Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Oz the Great and Powerful," $69.9 million.

2. "Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters," $11.2 million.

3. "A Good Day to Die Hard," $9.1 million.

4. "Mama," $6.3 million.

5 (tie). "Beautiful Creatures," $5.8 million.

5 (tie). "Les Miserables," $5.8 million.

6. "Silver Linings Playbook," $6 million.

7. "Jack the Giant Slayer," $4.9 million.

8. "New World," $4.8 million.

9. "Snitch," $4.7 million.

10. "Boule et Bill," $4.1 million.

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