The Weekend Report

Iron Man 3 vacuumed up an estimated $174.8 million to dominate weekend moviegoing in what ranked as the second-biggest domestic movie bow… ever.

Unsurprisingly, the competition stayed at home. Shane Black’s second feature accounted for roughly 80% of the session’s trade, leaving the rest of the field seeking out scraps.

Exclusive bows were slightly more encouraging with good starts for the likes of Love is All You Need and nonfiction Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s. But the biggest noises came from the single screen $21,800 bow of child custody drama What Maisie Knew and the four-screen opening of The Iceman, based on real-life assassin Richard Kuklinski that grossed $88,500 in four initial indictments.

In the niches, the Indian circuit had OK starts for the Hindi Shootout at Wadala of $208,000 at 89 venues and Telugu Greeku Veerudu amassing $172,000 from 55 screens. In Québec, French import Molière à bicyclette pedaled to $35,400 at 18 velodromes and the historic epic Cinco de Mayo, La Batalla from Mexico wasn’t in full festive mode (despite its holiday timing) with $61,800 from 20 encounters.

Weekend revenues pushed close to $220 million for a rather significant 146% boost from seven days back. It was nonetheless 16% down from 2012 when the all time $207.4 million box office debut of The Avengers blasted into the multiplex.

It’s difficult to assess the extent to which The Avengers bolstered the opening of Iron Man 3 , which already had its own movie fan base and box-office track record. But in the coming years a clear perspective will emerge with the likes of Thor and Captain America; so hold on tights.

The inklings of the Stark truth arrived last week when Iron Man 3 bowed in 42 international territories with close to $200 million in grosses. An additional 12 nations were added this weekend and preliminary estimates peg the frame at $175 million.

On the domestic front, low-enders expected $150 million. At that level there’s bound to be surprises and exit polling provided at least one with a decided male gender bias of 61% on opening weekend. Studio data also revealed that 45% of the audience was 25-years and younger with 52% identified as couples and 27% as families.

Roughly 45% of the audience opted for 3D engagements and 9% of the box office came from Imax engagements. It’s a not-too-shabby start and the industry is certainly hoping it will provide a substantial beginning for a summer box office juggernaut.

Very few of the national release marketplace holdovers managed to maintain 50% of their audience. And even expanding titles aimed at more mature and discerning crowds including Mud, The Reluctant Fundamentalist and Kon-Tiki saw their momentum zapped by the industrial behemoth.

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