I found it interesting to read more than a few worried comments last week from movie commentators and analysts that Grand Theft Auto IV might actually affect the box office performance of Iron Man, given that GTA IV came out a few days ahead of Iron Man’s release, and that both of them are ostensibly aimed at the same audience.
With a nice round $100m opening weekend for Marvel’s first self-financed blockbuster, it’s fair to say that those predictions were absolutely bogus, although I never thought for a minute that GTA IV would do Iron Man any damage - and nor did the vice chairman of the studio releasing Iron Man, either:
”It’s crazy to think that young males can’t carve out two hours for Iron Man. It’s going to be a great week to be a young guy.”
Or even, erm, a not-so-young guy; this week has been a riot of new entertainment for me, between queuing for GTA IV outside Woolworths on Tuesday (Yep, there was a queue!) and sitting with my over-excited colleagues during Iron Man’s opening night. The idea that any of us were going to miss Iron Man to sit at home and play GTA IV was insane, even though I’m pretty sure every single one of us who saw the movie that night went home and played GTA IV afterwards. Read More
