As what I had said yesterday, Iron Man 3 lit the box office on fire on Friday, tallying a huge estimated $68.3 million on Friday. Including $15.6 million from midnight grosses, the actual Friday estimated gross was $51.7 million. Altogether, the film posted the eighth-biggest turnout ever for an opening day, but was about $12 million short of The Avengers' huge $80.8 million opening Friday (the number shrinks to $9 million when subtracting midnights). However, it's way higher than Iron Man 2's $51 million first Friday (including $7.5 million from midnight showings).. If Iron Man 3 plays like 2 or Avengers, it would earn just under $175 million for the weekend. However, it may be more front-loaded due to it being more of a sequel (more people coming out opening day). Thus, I think it will earn a bit less and take in a still wow-worthy $166 million for the weekend, placing it third among opening weekends.
Iron Man 3 gobbled up so much attention that most films plunged hard. Pain and Gain will be the top-grossing holdover with $7.5 million in its' second weekend. Oblivion, 42, and even possibly Olympus Has Fallen now look like they will miss $100 million now due to huge drops this weekend. The Croods was the only one to drop less than 50% and Oz the Great and Powerful returned to the Top 10 with a slight bump due to being played in double-feature shows with Iron Man 3.
