Photo Credit: Disney/Buena Vista

“Iron Man 3, which has been well received by critics so far, is playing in roughly 80 percent of the foreign marketplace, excluding major markets Russia and China.”[THR]

Let’s just agree that Robert Downey, Jr. has the midas touch at the box office these days. After starring in colossal money makers like Sherlock Holmes and the earlier Iron Man films (not to mention The Avengers, which very nearly rewrote box office history), his latest starring vehicle Iron Man 3 looks to be the biggest one yet.

The film debuted this weekend overseas ahead of its North American release where it garnered a very impressive opening haul of $195.3 million across 42 markets. Last year’s monster earner The Avengers opened to $185.1 million overseas.

“Box office observers agree that Iron Man 3 is playing more like a sequel to last summer’s The Avengers than a follow-up to Iron Man 2, which posted a foreign opening of roughly $100 million in 2010.”
All of this, naturally, bodes well for the third Iron Man: “The mammoth foreign opening bodes well for the tentpole’s domestic prospects, and is already whipping up speculation as to whether the threequel can match or better Avengers in North America. Avengers debuted to $207.4 million domestically, the top number of all time.”

And if you think that’s impressive, just wait until this weekend.

Emma Watson drops the posh British accent for the second time in The Bling Ring, the new film from Sofia Coppola which explores the American fascination with the celebrity high life.

It also shows how teens use the internet and social media to gain access to the exclusive world of celebrity parties and events, something we’re guessing will become a lot more commonplace after the release of the film.

The Bling Ring releases this June.

So things didn’t exactly work out for Steve Carrell as the Incredible Burt Wonderstone (it sank without a trace at the box office, you might recall). But Carrell is back in another feature film, this time in the sort of understated, character-driven dramedy that won him raves in Little Miss Sunshine.

Directors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash direct an all-star cast in The Way, Way Back, a poignant coming-of-age story that stars Carrell as a difficult man to love opposite Toni Collette. Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Amanda Peet, Rob Corddry, and Liam James also star. The film releases July 5.