You may have seen the headlines strewn across internet banners that Iron Man 3 has bested the opening weekend of The Avengers internationally, putting it on track not only to be the biggest box office monster of the summer but also entering it in a position to duke it out for one of the top spots of all time. While The Avengers pulled in $185.1 million internationally on its opening weekend last May, Iron Man 3 has surpassed that opening take with $195.3 million to its name. And that’s before it opens in US theaters.

Thus far, reviews have been positively glowing and it’s got to nab a CinemaScore in the A/A+ range so it really seems like the sky is the limit for the Marvel behemoth.

The question is, will it best The Avengers hefty opening weekend that soared past highest expectations with $207.4 million? Probably not, as it is tracking somewhere around the $167M mark. Personally, I expect it to get closer to that prized $200M slot, but probably not to top it.If I had to put money down, I’d say it winds up somewhere in the $188M range but would not be surprised to see it blow past that number.

As for the residuals, so long as it snags the great CinemaScore that it seems to already have in the bank, hold-overs are sure to be good on this one and with nearly $200M in the bank already, this is sure to be a wild success irregardless. Will it reach that massive billy international mark though? I believe it will. It just needs time.

Iron Man 3, directed by Shane Black and starring Robert Downey Jr, Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Kingsley, Guy Pearce and Jon Favreau, hits theaters this Thursday, May 2.

Follow Silver Screen Riot on Facebook
Follow Silver Screen Riot on Twitter