Sunday May 11, 2008

Marvel’s superhero movie Iron Man fought off the competition for a second consecutive weekend, landing the No. 1 spot with $50.5 million in ticket sales at North American box offices, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The movie, the first release by Marvel Studios, took in $12,284 per theater at 4,111 locations, and saw its total box office rise to $177 million after only about 10 days in theaters.

The film, starring Robert Downey Jr., went head-to-head with the family film Speed Racer, which landed the No. 2 spot with $20.2 million in ticket sales; and romantic comedy What Happens In Vegas, which bagged the No. 3 spot, taking an estimated $20 million at the box office this weekend.

Speed Racer, Warner Bros big budget flick, disappointed the studio — who had hoped the film, about a race car driver named Speed who must stop wealthy corporations from using profits to fix races, would prove to be a runaway hit for kids and their parents.

“We were disappointed with the results over the weekend,” said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros.

However, Fellman remains optimistic after surveys of audiences leaving theaters showed they had positive reactions to the movie.

“We’re hoping, optimistically, that the movie can turn it around and sustain an audience into the summer but only time will tell at this early stage,” Fellman said.

Meanwhile, Vegas, which stars Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz, took $6,221 per theater in 3,215 theaters compared to $5,605 per venue in 3,606 locations for Speed.

A spokesman for Twentieth Century Fox, which released Vegas, called its performance a “great result” that surpassed expectations for what he said was a movie that cost a mere $35 million to make.

Also in this week’s top five films, Made of Honor, starring Patrick Dempsey, grabbed the No. 4 spot with $7.6 million and a two-week total of $26.3 million.

And the No. 5 spot, with an estimated tally of $5.8 million and a cumulative total of $40.4 million after three weeks in theaters, is the Tina Fey comedy Baby Mama.