"Speed Racer" gears up to take second

By Carl DiOrio

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Here's a near iron-clad certainty for this weekend's boxoffice: "Iron Man" will fly to No. 1 -- again.

Warner Bros.' "Speed Racer," a live-action adaptation of the classic Japanese cartoon series, opens in saturation release this weekend. Fox's romantic comedy "What Happens in Vegas," starring Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz, also unspools wide. But neither new film appears to be a match for the high-grossing holdover from Paramount and Marvel.

"Iron Man" won the weekend laurels with $98.6 million during its first Friday-Sunday frame and should fetch $45 million to $50 million during its sophomore session.

"Speed Racer," directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, has been tracking softly and could bow with less than $30 million. "Vegas" probably will gross slightly more than $20 million and nab third place for the weekend, after "Iron Man" and "Speed Racer."

Rated PG, "Speed Racer" stars Emile Hirsch ("Into the Wild") and targets family audiences more than the PG-13 "Iron Man." The Warners film has been tracking best with older women -- meaning moms -- so that bodes well for the distributor's strategy of targeting moviegoers less likely to be heading to "Iron Man," particularly on the Mother's Day weekend.

But it had better make its family moolah quickly. Disney debuts its highly anticipated family sequel "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" on May 16.

This weekend Warners execs also hope to draw some patrons who already caught "Iron Man." But with a breakout hit like the Paramount film, repeat business will be significant.

"We have seen a really strong interest among families, and that's our target," Warners distribution president Dan Fellman said. "So hopefully they will show up."  Continued...