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Posted May 5, 2013 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: Marvel Wins Big Again with Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3Summer is still some ways off, but looking at box office weekend take you might think it is already here. Still fresh on the heels of its box-office record breaking The Avengers last year, Marvel went back to its solo hero adventures with Iron Man 3, and with a $200 million budget it had a lot of ground to cover. However, with an estimated $175.3 million in a single weekend (and an outstanding $504 million in overseas box office), it is not only likely to profit substantially in the United States, but it is set to make a splash in a number of other box office records (critics seem to like it, too).

No other film even came close this weekend, none even breaking into double digits. Last week’s top draw Pain & Gain seems to have “come & gone” off the radar, making only an estimated $7.6 million. The Michael Bay true crime comedy-thriller is not making anywhere near the kind of money the director used to with the Transformers franchise, but the film has made some money, a domestic total of $33.9 million over its $26 million costs. The Jackie Robinson biopic 42 remains a modest success, its estimated $6.2 million bringing the $40 million film to a domestic total of $78.3 million. It pulls slightly ahead of Oblivion, whose estimated $5.8 million brings the sci-fi action film to $76 million domestic, well short of its costs, but a decent foreign box office ($146.8 million) has given it a much needed cash infusion and driven it far from bomb status.

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The Croods is quite content to hang onto slots from week to week, this time remaining in fifth as it picks up an estimated $4.2 million and $168.7 million domestically. It is star Nicolas Cage’s third highest grossing film, right behind the National Treasure films. It is also something to hold over the heads of several other high profile stars, as The Big Wedding, starring A-listers such as Robert De Niro and Susan Sarandon, falls flat. The comedy has received reviews almost as unpleasant as Scary Movie 5 (which remains in the top ten in ninth with an estimated $1.4 million and a profitable but disappointing $29.6 million domestic total), and its estimated $3.9 million brings The Big Wedding to about half its $35 million costs, and with no overseas releases as of yet it seems likely to bomb.

A surprise to the list is the highly praised Mud, which opened last week but made its top ten debut this week. Landing in seventh, the Matthew McConaughey-led coming-of-age drama made an estimated $2.2 million, though whether the film becomes a hit may depend on it getting wider release; it has made back half of its $10 million budget in limited release already. Oz the Great and Powerful comes back to the top ten, picking up an estimated $1.8 million in its ninth week at the box office, and The Place Beyond the Pines lands in tenth, its estimated $1.3 million giving the $15 million budgeted indie film enough to make it a borderline success.

Weekend Box Office (May 3rd – 5th)

  1. Iron Man 3…$175.3 million
  2. Pain & Gain…$7.6 million
  3. 42…$6.2 million
  4. Oblivion…$5.8 million
  5. The Croods…$4.2 million
  6. The Big Wedding…$3.9 million
  7. Mud…$2.2 million
  8. Oz the Great and Powerful…$1.8 million
  9. Scary Movie 5…$1.4 million
  10. The Place Beyond the Pines…$1.3 million
Seth Paul

Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."