Iron Man rules the box office this Weekend

“Iron Man” made $100.8 million this weekend scoring the second-highest opening weekend ever for a non-sequel behind fellow Marvel Comic adaptation Spider Man. It also scored the tenth highest opening overall. The worldwide total box office take was $201 million with the $96.7 million haul in 57 countries outside the U.S.

This is the first release by Marvel Studios (distributed by Paramount) featuring Robert Downey Jr. as billionaire arms designer Tony Stark, a hard drinking womanizer. The character has a change of heart after he’s taken captive and sees firsthand the devastation his weapons cause, and builds a high-tech suit to become a superhero.

The film is directed by Jon Favreau, and also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard.

And Iron Man 2 is already in the works, with an already announced  release date  of April 30, 2010.  And Marvel’s movie, titled The Avengers, even has a release date. It’s set to come out in July 2011. Things are looking well for Marvel, who’s also set to release The Incredible Hulk later this summer, along with Punisher: War Zone in December. Marvel hopes to release “Thor,” from director Matthew Vaughan (“Stardust”), on July 4, 2010.

It appears 2011 will mark an “Avengers”-themed summer for Marvel. It’s The First Avenger: Captain America is set to be release on May 6, 2011, followed of course by the July release of The Avengers.

The rest of the weekend box-office looked like this:2. Made of Honor – $15.5 million
3. Baby Mama – $10.3 million
4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall – $6.1 million
5. Harold & Kumar…. – $6 million