Editorials > "Iron Man" Trounces "Speed Racer"

$20 million can mean very different things for summer movies. Romantic comedy "What Happens in Vegas…" earned that amount this weekend and couldn't be happier. "Speed Racer" made $20.2 million and is a certifiable flop. The reasons for this are obvious: Expectations and budget. Even the low estimates for the $100 million "Speed Racer" were pegging it around a $30 million debut, but to just barely snag second place from a $35 million Ashton Kutcher-Cameron Diaz rom-com, that has to sting.

Not surprisingly, "Iron Man" held on to first place this weekend. According to Variety, the superhero adventure flick earned $50.5 million. Experts attribute the film's staying power to positive reviews and word of mouth. It is, after-all, "the best reviewed film of the year." This is a title that its current competitors are not even close to challenging.

David Mamet's "Redbelt" got a slightly wider release in this its weekend, but underperformed, taking in only $1.1 million from 1,379 locations. This isn't all together surprising considering how little advertising it seems to have received, coupled with its only semi-marketable cast of Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emily Mortimer, and Tim Allen. That said, it looks quite good.

Click here to check out IMDb's Top Ten for the weekend.

UPDATE: Actually, "Speed Racer" only made $18.6 million, while "What Happens in Vegas…" made $20.2 million. "Iron Man" earned a cool $50 even. With all the WB spent on the production and promotion of "Speed Racer," it's shaping up to be one of the biggest flops in recent memory.

-David Morgan