Marvel stock up on "Iron Man" success

By John Tilak

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Shares of Marvel Entertainment Inc soared almost 10 percent after "Iron Man," its first self-produced film, had a dream run at the box office over the weekend, raking in more than $100 million in ticket sales, far exceeding expectations.

The comic-book publisher, which reported a first-quarter profit above market estimates and raised its 2008 outlook on Monday, also unveiled plans to release a sequel, "Iron Man 2," in 2010 and three other films in 2010 and 2011.

Ticket sales for "Iron Man," starring Robert Downey Jr, exceeded expectations of an opening in the $70 million to $80 million range for the three-day period beginning Friday.

"The reverberations of the success of 'Iron Man' will be significant in the industry and obviously for Marvel," said David Maisel, chairman of Marvel Studios, in a conference call.

The film had the second biggest non-sequel opening of all time, according to box-office data provider Media by Numbers. The first was "Spider-Man," another Marvel character, produced by Sony Corp's Sony Pictures.

Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey said the company now has a franchise with "Iron Man" and it will give Marvel "a predictable level of consumer demand."

Natexis analyst Alan Gould, who said "Iron Man" was "a fabulous opening for the company," added that the film was expected to bring in $250 million at the domestic box office.

"Iron Man," which cost about $150 million to make and $75 million to market according to some estimates, has generated an estimated $201 million in global box office to date.

Marvel will make a profit of about $125 million to $150 million from the film, which will be boosted by another $50 million to $60 million from toys, video games and other licensing related to the film, Gould added.

Marvel stock, which rose as much as 10 percent to $33.10, was trading up 8.3 percent at $32.75 in afternoon trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

'HULK' LOOMS LARGE

Offering a glimpse into its repertoire of movies, Marvel said it plans to release "Iron Man 2" and "Thor" in 2010, adding that two "Avenger"-themed movies were slated to hit theaters in 2011.

Maisel said Marvel's second self-produced film, "The Incredible Hulk," had one week left in post production. "Hulk" is due to release in six weeks.

Some analysts noted the relatively light marketing for "Hulk" and believe the film's prospects to be weak as it comes nearly five years after its previous version failed at the box office.

Marvel spokesman David Collins said the heavy marketing for "Iron Man" was partly because he was an unknown character and the company did not want the marketing of the films to compete with each other.