Iron Man defeats GTA IV rumour

While we were all enjoying some much needed bank holiday rest, the Marvel Studios team were celebrating a huge box office success with Iron Man. Jon Favreau’s take on the superhero opened strong and kept on going, eventually nabbing $102.1 million in the US, while also grabbing $96.8 million elsewhere for a staggering worldwide opening weekend of $201 million. So, yeah, all those reports about how Grand Theft Auto IV was going to eat into Iron Man's stash of cash? Utter nonsense.

Marvel has (shockingly) already greenlit a sequel for 2010, as well as shoving Thor onto the fast track for the same year, The First Avenger: Captain America for 2011 and, if all goes well, the first Avengers movie shortly after.

Attempting to counterprogram the largely male-orientated Marvel release, Made Of Honour did decent if unspectacular business, taking in $14.7 million. The two new arrivals pushed Baby Mama down to third, with the comedy making $10 million in its second trimester… er, week. Its total is now at $32 million. Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, meanwhile, nabbed $6.1 million for a current total of $25.3 million.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall slipped down one place to fifth, grabbing $6 million for a current total of $44 million, while The Forbidden Kingdom saw a drop of three places to sixth with $45 million in its coffers so far.

At seventh, kids’ adventure Nim’s Island made $2.6 million, while Prom Night dropped to eighth for $2.4 million.

At the bottom of the charts, 21 is sitting pretty with $79 million in the bank, while largely ignored thriller 88 Minutes resides in 10th with $15 million in total.