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Iron Man 3 beats The Avengers debut

Los Angeles - Iron Man 3 has earned $195.3m in just five days.

The big budget blockbuster - which stars Robert Downey Jr as Marvel's billionaire superhero Tony Stark - surpassed last year's epic superhero team-up movie The Avengers by grossing nearly $200m around the world in 42 countries.

The film's total haul, which includes openings in Europe, Asia, Australasia and South America, exceeds the $185.1m earned by The Avengers last year.

Disney's distribution executive Dave Hollis told Variety: "The surprise is the magnitude of this opening, not necessarily that audiences are responding to the movie. We believe this to be a strong indication of what will lead to extraordinary word-of-mouth worldwide.

Yet to open in the US

"As people start reading headlines of the size of this opening, I suspect it will act as a catalyst for the Thursday night opening Stateside."

Rabid fans in the United Kingdom led the way, where the flick grossed $21.5m in its opening weekend, while Korea and Australia fought for second place with $19.2m and $18.4m respectively.

The action movie's blockbuster takings are all the more impressive as it has yet to open in the United States, Russia, Germany and China.

Iron Man 3
is predicted to shatter the overseas grosses of its predecessors, 2008's Iron Man and 2010's Iron Man 2, and it is on course to open with $120m when it hits cinemas in the US on 3 May.

South Africans will get to see Iron Man 3 before the US when it opens in local cinemas on Workers' Day, 1 May.

- Channel24
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