Hulk Cannot Defeat Iron Man At The Box Office
Jun 15, 2008 by Vic HoltremanEven without Hulkbuster armor, Iron Man beats Hulk into the ground at the box office
A couple of weeks ago I posed the question: Will The Incredible Hulk defeat Iron Man? on its opening weekend at the box office.
Guess not.
Although The Incredible Hulk pulled in a respectable $55 million on this, its opening weekend, that was no where near Iron Man‘s approximately $100 million.
Unfortunately, Hulk underperformed slightly this weekend compared to the $60-70MM the studio hoped for, but let’s see how it does next weekend and thereafter. On the other hand, the abysmally awful The Happening actually exceeded expectations, bringing in $30.5MM. I can’t wait to see THAT movie’s numbers next weekend – if there’s any justice in the world it’ll bring in less than $16MM and go down from there.
On the other hand I have a feeling that good word of mouth will keep The Incredible Hulk afloat with probably another $33MM next weekend.
Although there was a big marketing push in the last couple of weeks, this film just didn’t get the monster buildup that was given to Iron Man prior to its release last month. A combination of confusion over whether this was a reboot or a sequel (it was a bit of both), lack of awareness that the movie was even coming out and the memory of the less than inspiring Ang Lee version conspired to put a lid on the box office numbers.
I see the same thing happening with the Punisher movie being released this Fall, except even moreso since that one will be rated R and thus lock out some of the teens and younger audience members.
Also I’d say this is a testament to just how great Iron Man was considering how relatively unknown of a character he was to the general public before the marketing blitz started.
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Glad to lose that bet, but hope to God that the “Incredible Hulk” get it well deserving franchise. Really hope that Internationally tally and word of mouth get a second strong wave of money rolling in for “IH”. Hey considering Batman Begins only made something like 48Mil on its 1st weekend and it too was a reboot back in 2005,BUT look how much its loved and referenced now,so I think that there’s still hope for the big green in the long run.
There was not even a slight chance of Hulk coming close and I said in the other topic.
Hulk is not as fun to watch as Iron man. RDJ is cooler and funnier than Edward Norton.
Even if Iron man was a lesser known character or not know at all, it doesn’t matter because of marketing. Their marketing budget was 50 times greater than the hulk. They even had a multi-million $ spot in the superbowl. They advertised the movie months and month and months before it came out with funnier, cooler, more eye-candy type scenes so it was an easy sell, especially with a larger and better cast than Hulk.
In any case, Hulk was a solid movie and I really hope it makes more money. I really want them to make a sequel with the same cast and tie it into Avengers.
Y’know what’s REALLY cool?
E! are reporting that Iron Man will be the only superhero flick joining the $300m+ club with the Spider-Man films! I didn’t check the validity – just wanted to say that in my excitement.
It’s nice to have people admiring my Iron Man statue now, actually knowing who he is. ;o)
Now I await Green Lantern with baited breath (but don’t expect much – damn Warner Bros!)
I saw both movies; Hulk last night and Iron Man last month.
The Hulk was good, but no where near as awesome as Iron Man. A little too much CGI for my taste.
I really liked the fight scenes in Hulk, especially the one between Blonsky and the Hulk. I thought the CGI to make Roth look more ripped could have been better.
Iron Man still reigns supreme. We’ll see if the Dark Knight can pierce that iron exterior.
I was so hoping HULK would do better. Too bad he was only in like 3500 theaters. Every little bit helps. Maybe next weekend he will break records and do another $50 million. I know…wishful thinking…
I loved IM and I am glad it still reigns supreme (at the Box Office) but I was really rooting for Hulk for make at least $75 Million. Everything under Marvel Studios has got to succeed or there won’t be any money for Iron Man II. That’s the way I look at it. It only takes a couple of flops to sink a studio and Marvel Studios is too young to take a beating. Thankfully this Hulk iteration looks like it will do well…
Speaking of flops, I am worried about the Punisher film coming out later this year. It looks decent, but i do not think it will have the appeal to make it succeed. Just my 2 cents.
I hope the IH has legs in its second and third week through WOM, I definitely am recommending it to people I know. The movie was well made with the right balance of action and emotions. One of the best actions sequences of any super-heroes movies. I think if it made 150M domestically, it may warrant a sequel, internationally, it should surpass the previous Hulk easily from the early numbers…
I really enjoyed the Incredible Hulk. IH was action-packed from beginning to end! This Hulk movie was a lot better than the first other one. I hope they make a sequel!
WaLL-E, SMASH IRON MAN LIKE LiTTLE BUG , THEN COLLECT REMAINS FOR LATER ANALISYS….WEEE!
BEEB !OOBB. BEETT BOBT I’m BOOOP.
lol 790, I like to Robot-speak
Wall-E will not beat Ironman opening because guess what else comes out then?…The Matrix 4!!!! ..I mean Wanted, yeah, thats the one. And I know that my friends and I will be seeing Wanted first, then maybe Wall-E the next weekend.
I think both will be pretty successful overall, but opening weekings will wash each other out.
Wall-E will do well (even though I think it looks dumb and I will NOT be seeing it), but I don’t think it will beat Iron Man’s numbers or Indy’s. Both of those films appealed to a wider variety of audience, and Wall-E is more of a kids film.
I thought that the new Hulk film was excellent!! The Hulk was MUCH better in this film than in the ’03 version. I loved that they incorporated so much of what makes the Hulk the Hulk into the film….the part where he bumped his head was dumb, though. I mean, he rips a jeep in half, but he bumps his head on a rock and feels it???
Think it looks dumb and won’t see it?
Wow, Pixar mind control dosnt work on everyone. Hmmm
I couldn’t agree more Andy.
Everytime I see that rusty box with its hand out I can allmost hear him say “this is your future world, now give me your money human sucker”. »-|
It will be huge.