Movies

LOS ANGELES – Iron Man performed a bit of alchemy over the weekend, turning iron into box-office gold.

Paramount Pictures

The title character sports his flashy Mark III armor in Iron Man.

The Marvel Comics adaptation, starring Robert Downey Jr. as the guy in the metal suit, hauled in $100.7 million during its opening weekend and $104.2 million since debuting Thursday night, the second-best premiere ever for a nonsequel, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film also scored overseas with $96.7 million in 57 countries where it began opening Wednesday.

The movie, distributed by Paramount, is the first release by Marvel Studios, which has begun financing its own productions after such studio-backed hits as the Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four flicks.

"We could not have hoped for a better way for Marvel Studios to blast off," said David Maisel, chairman of the unit, a division of Marvel Entertainment, which stands to pull in a greater share of box-office receipts and merchandising money by financing movies itself.

Debuting in second place with $15.5 million was Sony's romantic comedy Made of Honor, starring Grey's Anatomy heartthrob Patrick Dempsey as a man who tries to woo his best pal after she asks him to be maid of honor at her wedding.

Iron Man, which won rave reviews from many critics, features Mr. Downey as billionaire arms designer Tony Stark, a boozy womanizer who builds a high-tech suit and becomes a superhero, mending his ways after he's taken captive and sees firsthand the devastation his weapons cause. The film is directed by Jon Favreau, and also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard.

Despite the huge Iron Man opening, Hollywood's overall business was down compared to the same weekend last year. The top 12 movies took in $154.1 million, off 15 percent from a year ago.

Here are the estimated weekend totals for the top 10 films.

The Associated Press