Sun May 4, 2008 — by Matt Raub

Box Office Report For 'Iron Man' Could Mean Sequel

Will we see 'Iron Man 2'? Survey says... quite possibly.

It was an auspicious start for the Metal Marvel Hero, as Iron Man grossed an estimated $5.5 million at around 2,500 theaters during its Thursday night previews and made an estimated $32.5 million at 4,105 theaters on Friday, making it the 14th highest-grossing opening day on record. (You can read the ComicMix reviews of the film here and here.)

The Friday gross was comparable to X2: X-Men United, which debuted May 2 five years ago, bringing in $31.2.

Paramount big-wig Brad Grey went on record last week by saying that as long as the flick does "as well as expected", the studio wants to get a sequel in theaters for the same May weekend in 2010 -- and with numbers like these, that could be more realistic than we imagined.

While this is actually a Marvel Studios-produced film, with Paramount distributing, it's no surprise after these numbers that they will be rushing to get Downey Jr. back in the red-and-gold ASAP. Director Jon Favreau has already stated that he planned a loose structure for three movies, with the Mandarin presumably making an appearance somewhere down the line.

Keep your eye on ComicMix for more updates on how the first big blockbuster of the summer does in the box office!

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