'Iron Man 3' tops weekend box office with second-best film opening of $175.3 million

Superhero film Iron Man 3 got off to a massive start this weekend with a box office haul of 175.3 million dollars and in the process had the second biggest film opening of all time in the US.

According to Disney, combined with international sales, the film brought its total earnings to 680.1million dollars, the New York Daily News reported.

The movie stars Robert Downey Jr. as the billionaire businessman Tony Stark, whose superhero alter-ego spars with an evil extremist.

Avengers holds the opening record with 207.4 million dollars over its first three days.

Previous two instalments of Iron Man earned a total of 1.2 billion dollars across the world, the Box Office Mojo website reported.

Last week’s winner, dark action comedy Pain and Gain, dropped to second place with 7.6 million dollars whereas baseball drama 42 took number three place with 6.2 million dollars.

Rounding out the top five was Tom Cruise’s post-apocalyptic thriller Oblivion that has earned 5.79 million dollars, and the animated film The Croods grossed 4.2 million dollars.

Top ten movies this weekend

1. Iron Man 3: 175 million dollar

2. Pain and Gain: 7.6 million dollar

3. 42: 6.2 million dollar

4. Oblivion: 5.8 million dollar

5. The Croods: 4.2 million dollar

6. The Big Wedding: 3.9 million dollar

7. Mud: 2.2 million dollar

8. Oz the Great and Powerful: 1.8 million dollar

9. Scary Movie 5: 1.4 million dollar

10. The Place Beyond the Pines: 1.3 million dollars