Iron Man's A Huge Movie Hit

Iron Man’s proved its metal at the box office.

In the US it grossed an estimated $32.5 million on its first day of release alone.

Insiders now expect Iron Man to be on track to meet or exceed the $85 million-plus opening weekends posted by sequels to two other Marvel franchises -- Spider-Man and X-Men.

Iron Man stars Robert Downey Jr as a billionaire industrialist and playboy named Tony Stark who wrestles with a midlife crisis as he invents a high-tech suit of armor that transforms him into a superhero.

The movie, which cost about $150 million to make and another $75 million to market, co-stars Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow and has drawn mostly favorable reviews.

Spider-Man 3 holds the record for biggest opening weekend of all time, $151 million last May, while the first Spider-Man stands at No. 1 for a non-sequel film - $114.8 million in the first weekend of May 2002.