‘Iron Man 3’ has second best box office debut in history

Robert Downey Jr. poses at the “Iron Man 3” panel 2012 Comic Con on Saturday, July 14, 2012 in San Diego, Calif. AP/Jordan Strauss/Invision

LOS ANGELES – Super-hero blockbuster sequel “Iron Man 3” smashed to the top at the US box office with a mega $175.3 million take – the second best opening weekend ever – industry estimates showed Sunday.

The film starring Robert Downey Jr as the title character now sits behind just “The Avengers” – another Walt Disney comic book superhero flick- which earned $207.4 million when it opened a year ago.

“‘Iron Man 3’ is definitely playing like a pseudo-sequel to last summer’s mightiest flick, ‘The Avengers,'” said Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock.

It “may be the top movie of the summer, unless the ‘Man of Steel'” – an updated take on the ever-popular Superman story set for release in June- “has anything to say about it.

The US opening of Iron Man 3 demolished the franchise’s previous debuts, with $98 million for the first movie and $128 million for the sequel, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

In second place for this weekend’s box office was action-comedy “Pain and Gain,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, with $7.6 million in ticket sales, Exhibitor Relations said.

Not far behind was “42,” a biopic about trailblazing black baseball star Jackie Robinson, which made $6.2 million

The fourth spot, with $5.8 million, went to “Oblivion,” the post-apocalyptic action flick starring Tom Cruise, followed by “The Croods” – a stone-age cartoon— in fifth, with $4.2 million.

“The Big Wedding” – a star-studded comedy featuring Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Diane Keaton and Robin Williams – came in sixth place, taking in $3.9 million.

“Mud,” a coming-of-age story starring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, earned an estimated $2.2 million, for seventh place, the film’s first week in the top ten after going into wide release a week earlier.

And in eighth, Walt Disney’s 3D fantasy adventure flick “Oz the Great and Powerful” earned $1.8 million, for a nine-week total of $228.6 million.

“Scary Movie 5,” the latest installment in the slasher-comedy franchise, took the ninth spot with $1.4 million.

Rounding out the top 10 at $1.3 million was “The Place Beyond the Pines,” starring Ryan Gosling and Bradley Cooper in a drama about a motorcycle stunt rider who resorts to bank robbery to provide for his lover and their newborn child.