Iron Man 3 Stays on Top of Charts

Super hero love kept Iron Man 3 in the number one spot for a second weekend in a row while the lavish period saga The Great Gatsby overperformed in second place. Audiences still came out in droves for Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 3, which fell an understandable 58 percent in its second week to $72.5M holding steady at number one. It is now just days away from joining the list of All-Time Domestic Blockbusters.

Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton (L to R) in The Great Gatsby(Warner Bros.)

Opening with spectacular results in second place was the lavish 1920s-set saga The Great Gatsby. Based on the classic American novel, the film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan played as effective female-skewing counter-programming to the male-skewing Iron Man sequel. Studio research showed that the Gatsby audience was 59 percent female and 69 percent over the age of 25. Moviegoers came out for the brand, the starpower and the style. Plus music from executive producer Jay Z and other current artists helped to broaden the appeal.

Michael Bay’s Pain & Gain followed with $5M in its third round dipping 33 percent. Audiences showed that if Tyler Perry isn’t writing and/or directing, they’re not interested. The new comedy Peeples, which the media mogul produced, was met with empty theaters nationwide