In case you haven’t heard (or didn’t see it this weekend) Robert Downey Jr. and Jon Favreau scored a monster hit with “Iron Man.” The first flick that Marvel has bankrolled far exceeded anyone’s expectations by pulling in a reported $104 million since its late Thursday debut. “Made of Honor” ($15.5 million), “Baby Mama” ($10.3 million), “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” ($6.1 million), and “Harold and Kumar…” ($6 million) rounded out the top 5.
Elsewhere, “American Idol” was the most watched show in America – two times over – for the umpteenth week in a row. “Dancing With the Stars” ran a close 3rd and 4th. “Grey’s Anatomy,” “CSI,” and “Desperate Housewives” all pulled in more than 17 million viewers apiece.
Mimi reigns supreme on the Billboard 200 once again. Leona Lewis holds firm at No. 2, followed by Flight of the Conchords, Ashlee Simpson with “Bittersweet World,” and Atmosphere with “When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold.”
Chelsea Handler, a noted triple threat, can add NYT No. 1 best-selling author to her resume with “Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me, Chelsea.” Despite frantic efforts by his supporters to get it to the top of the list, Ron Paul’s “The Revolution” hit the list only at No. 7. David Baldacci’s “The Whole Truth” shoots to the top of the NYT fiction list in its first week out, bumping Harlan Coben’s “Hold Tight” from the top spot. Iris Johansen, Stuart Woods and Amanda Quick also debuted in the top 15.