UPDATE: Disney is reporting that Iron Man 3 has grossed over $307.7 million in overseas markets as of Wednesday. Thanks to a $21.5 million debut in China, Iron Man 3 is on pace to outsell The Avengers. The film has already surpassed Captain America’s $192 million, Iron Man’s (original) $267 million, and Thor’s of $268 million.
Iron Man 3 has topped The Avengers international debut with $195.3 million in box office receipts over the weekend. The Disney/Marvel film opened in 42 overseas markets to take the top spot at box offices across the globe. Last year over the same weekend “The Avengers” opened in 39 markets and earned $185.1 million prior to its record-breaking domestic debut of $207.4 million.
“You don’t know that you could ever repeat the kind of experience we had a year ago, and here the Marvel team brought together another incredible movie,” said Dave Hollis, head of distribution for Disney. “We’ve had this as a pattern for Marvel films to kind of let momentum internationally help signal to the domestic audience that the film is coming, something big is coming.”
Could Iron Man 3 be bigger than The Avengers?
It is possible, but only if Iron Man 3 can top the biggest opening weekend of all time. When Iron Man 2 entered theaters in 2010 it earned $128 million during its opening weekend and grossed $623 million. While those numbers are very respectable, they are far short of the $207.4 million The Avengers opened to last year before grossing over $1.5 billion at the box office.
Sixty percent of The Avengers gross came from international box office receipts. In order to become one of the highest grossing films of all time, Iron Man 3 must first have a huge opening weekend both in the United States and across the globe. Iron Man 3 opens in China, one of the fastest growing international markets for films, the same day it releases in the U.S. on May 3rd.
So far Iron Man 3 is on track to overtake The Avengers. The question is, “Can Tony Stark keep up the pace?”
