Looks like the whole nation was infected with Iron Mania. Shellhead's silver screen debut raked in $100 million for the 3-day weekend, above the projected $70-80 million. This is good for everyone: Marvel, comic book fans, and Hollywood.
Marvel already projects higher earnings as a result. They are also planning on an Iron Man sequel in 2010 along with a possible Thor movie. Will it be the Ultimate Thor or the classic Dr. Don Blake Thor?
Over at Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker actually proposes that Downey deserves an Oscar for Iron Man. Wow...Downey's career has been fully resuscitated. Don't go mad and fall off the wagon, Robert! Good things are in store for Mr. Favreau's directing career as well.
Not everything in the Iron Man universe is so rosy. The Iron Man videogame looks to be getting terrible reviews. I played the XBox 360 demo a week ago and found it to be a justifiable rental, if you are an Iron Man fan. The game demo consisted of a level based on the movie where you fly around Afghanistan, blowing up terrorist camps using Stark technology. Mostly you fly around and use repulsor rays to blow up shit. The full game is supposed to deviate from the plot and puts you in combat against infamous IM villains. You can also unlock classic versions of IM armor.
Here's an interesting behind the scenes look at the game. Looks like good fodder for XBox achievement points, but a clear rental. Nuff said.
Iron Man was a practically flawless hero flick; its makers drop some pretty obvious sequel hints too... i'm thinking the next one should be equally great