Marvel’s Phase Two is getting off to both a bang AND the ca-ching of a busy cash register.
After reporting yesterday that multiple Iron Man 3 screenings around the globe have sold out, Deadline now says Shane Black’s sequel has earned an estimated $13.2 million since opening internationally on Wednesday, occupying a pace that puts it ahead of Iron Man 2 and even The Avengers in some territories. The site says that the Marvel movie has set opening day records in Taiwan and The Philippines, while also opening bigger than Joss Whedon’s movie in France. So far, Black’s movie has opened in 12 countries, making up only 23% of the international film market).
Iron Man 3 has so much going in its favor. There’s a noticeable box-office boost that comes with being the first summer blockbuster out of the gate, and the movie is riding high on the success of The Avengers, with a larger fanbase now interested in the next steps of Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). And the reviews have been very positive. Iron Man 3 sits at 93% positive on Rotten Tomatoes, and our own Eric Eisenberg gave the movie a staggering 4.5 out of 5 stars.
It’s basically a non-story that Iron Man 3 is making money. Marvel knows what it's doing, and audiences are expected to flock to this movie. But it is interesting that Iron Man 3 is outpacing The Avengers, which was the highest-grossing movie of 2012. This signals very good things for Thor: The Dark World and the rest of Marvel’s Phase Two films. We’ll continue to track Iron Man’s progress as the movie rolls out.
