The Disney/Marvel tentpole Iron Man 3 proved its mettle this weekend by opening to $175.3 million in North America, and becoming the second highest debut of all time right behind Marvel’s The Avengers ($207.4 million) in 2012.
Meanwhile in foreign territories, the film hit the $175.9 million in its second weekend, bringing its cume up to a hefty $680.1 million. In China, the film scored a very impressive $63.5 million, the top opening of all time for a Marvel film. Industry observers are also predicting strong performances for Marvel’s two other big titles—Thor: The Dark World, which opens Nov. 8, and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, opening April 14, 2014.
Universal’s Tom Cruise sci-fi actioner Oblivion dropped to the No. 4 spot with another $5.8 million (cume of $76 million) and DreamWorks’ caveman comedy The Croods landed on the No. 5 spot again with another $945,000, bringing its U.S. cume to $14.2 million. Worldwide the feature has made over $517.9 million during its 45 days in theaters.
