Open Forum Friday: Will Iron Man’s Box Office Suffer Due to Grand Theft Auto IV?

Posted by on May 2nd, 2008   Filed under: Games, Open Forum Friday

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Hey guys, Sean here… I’m still in California at the moment, but I’ll be heading back home on Saturday. There should be some fun stuff to talk about on the podcast this week, including all the cheesy Hollywood sightseeing I’ve been doing and a live taping of American Gladiators! Now obviously the big thing everyone’s buzzing about this weekend is Iron Man (you can read my review here) and in the interest of sparking some discussion I thought I would pose a question that seems to be cropping up a lot lately: will Iron Man’s box office numbers be affected by the release of the smash hit video game Grand Theft Auto IV?

As someone who works in the video game industry, I’m always very curious to see how the medium competes with other forms of entertainment. Currently I still don’t think video games reach quite as many people as movies do, but for that key demographic of 18 to 25 year old males, video games are absolutely huge. Not to mention, Grand Theft Auto IV is the next-gen sequel to one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time, and it seems to be on track to become to the highest rated game ever! I don’t think it’s crazy to say that there are a lot of people completely absorbed in committing virtual crimes right now. (Incidentally, a new Mario Kart also just came out for the Wii, but no one’s really too concerned about that.)

Hollywood obviously has high hopes for Iron Man, and they want it to set the pace for the upcoming summer movie season. But will GTA IV keep people at home glued to their controllers instead of going out to the theatre? Is the question even relevant? Does Iron Man have a shot in hell at passing the $100 million opening weekend mark? Give us your thoughts here on Open Forum Friday.



  • swarez

    I don’t think Iron Man will suffer because of GTA IV. If it does this weekend then the next weekend will probably pick up because gamers are willing to put down the joy stick and go outside, just to go back inside for a movie.

    I’ve been playing GTA all week and I must say that the reviewers that gave it such high marks are either high on hype or have been paid off, some reviews are actually paid for by the way. This game is in no way a perfect 10 as some people claim. Right now I’d give it 7.5. It is repetitive as hell and walking around between missions making a mess gets tired very quickly.
    But I just got in to “Manhattan” last night so hopefully it will pick up the pace.

  • joe

    It will definitely suffer somehow.. but I don’t know about the severity. Maybe 20% lower? You are right in pointing out that demographic, but also people who like comic books generally like video games.

    Personally, I have an exam coming up, so I’m putting off buying GTA for a few weeks. That said, I’m considering seeing Iron Man this weekend. And if I had GTA4 (or MarioKart) now, I doubt I would even care about this movie. Though I’m getting antsy from not going to the theater in a quite a while.

  • I really don’t think Iron Man is going to suffer in any significant way from GTA IV. I have both games (Mario Kart Wii being the other) and I’m going to see Iron Man this Sunday.

    The games can wait at home, they aren’t going anywhere, whereas Iron Man will be leaving the cinema in a few weeks.

  • paulie

    Well seeing is how my x box 360 got the red rings of death last Friday I’m pretty much free to go out to the movies this saturday to see iron man why should iron man suffer any how,how hard is it to put the game on pause for 2 hours or so and go out and watch the movie???????

  • Cain

    I don’t think Iron Man would suffer much, if it all, as a result of GTA 4. I think Iron Man has a good chance of making at least $100 mil easy, but GTA will make at least double that; it’s not because there’s more people playing the game, it’s that the price is high and it inflates the perceived popularity.
    Many people just compare the opening grosses, but if you compare the number of actual units sold to the number of tickets, then video games will always lag behind movies; at least for now.

  • I think a game like Halo 3 has more of an effect on box office simply because it’s more heavily dependent on the online gaming element– GTA4 is more of a one player experience and I think gamers are more likely to, as a previous poster said, put the game on pause to go out and see a movie.

  • Not me, I like games that draw me in (Fatal Frame/Manhunt). GTAIV will be no exception. Can’t wait to get a hold of it.

  • Goon

    second highest opening day ever, $33 mil

  • Nemesis

    The TV Shows in GTA4 are hilarious, good 2 see they havent lost their humour.

    Theres a lot more gaming time in GTA4 to get through. A couple of hours to the cinema isn’t going to make much difference. Maybe its easier to blame the videogame if theirs a poor turn-out at the cinema.

  • Swarez

    Well the numbers are in 200 million dollars worldwide this weekend. Apparently GTA 4 didn’t do squat.

  • Apparently not… 10th biggest opening weekend ever.

  • Ever heard of a memory card? Besides when i walked out of Iron Man on friday i saw one of the biggest lines i’d ever seen backed out of the theatre to get in.

  • Phil

    Give Favreau the Avengers movie next!