Written by Nicole Pedersen

All you prognosticators of diminished expectations for the debut of Paramount Picture's "Iron Man" can suck shiny steel – turns out that people had plenty of money left in their wallets after buying "Grand Theft Auto IV" on Tuesday to plunk down on a movie ticket by Friday. Over 100 million plenty to be exact. So who says that insanely popular video games and extremely hyped superhero movies can't both thrive in today's economy? Not me, nope. No recession noticeable here.

"Iron Man" exceeded the 70-80 million opening weekend forecast by hauling in just over 100 million in ticket sales – over 110 million if you count Canada – but who does? This makes Jon Favreau's pic the highest opener for a non-sequel since 2002's "Spider Man" original. Pretty impressive by any standards, but especially so when you consider that a film starring Robert Downey Jr. couldn't even get an insurance bond a few years back – and look at him now – living up to early potential? Check.

Way, way back in second place is Sony's sacrifice to the comic God's: "Made of Honor," starring that guy with the hair from "Grey's Anatomy." How this movie scared up even 15 million, I can't imagine. I guess there were enough post-menopausal McDreamy fans out there to bridge the huge cultural gap gouged out by "Iron Man." The thing is, on any other weekend, 15 million for a romantic comedy would look pretty respectable – but this is the weekend of the Iron Man, and all other movies must scrape and bow at his huge, rocket-powered feet.

Here's how the rest of the weekend looked, according to Box Office Mojo: