Grand Theft Auto IV Could "Dampen" Iron Man Release

An industry analyst has suggested the upcoming launch of Grand Theft Auto IV may disrupt the theatrical release of the Hollywood blockbuster Iron Man, which will occur just a few days later.

Mike Hickey of Janco Partners said Take-Two's long-awaited game, which will hit shelves on April 29, could negatively impact ticket sales for Iron Man, which opens on May 2. The runaway success of Halo 3 in September was blamed by some Hollywood executives for poor box office numbers that month.

"The last significant videogame release, Halo 3, generated over $300 million in sales from its first week in the market," Hickey said in a Next-Gen report. "Halo 3 was released on just one platform, the Xbox 360, and attached nearly 50 percent of the installed base. GTA IV will be released on both the Xbox 360 and PS3, which have both significantly increased their installed bases since the release of Halo 3."

"A GTA IV 25 percent attached rate to a combined Xbox 360 and PS3 installed base at its April 29 release would imply 5.8 million units sold or roughly $360 million in retail sales in the first week of the game's release," he added.

Based on the classic Marvel superhero, Iron Man stars Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Samuel L. Jackson.

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Well, this makes very little sense.

Let's be honest, here, the only real must-see films of September 07 were 3:10 To Yuma, Eastern Promises and The Assassination of Jesse James. Aside from that, it was the usual middle-of-the-road fare, with a few action flicks, some horror, and a few films that were never going to be smash hits, regardless of quality.

This is simply studio executives finding something to blame for a bad month in film. I mean, if we've already spent X amount of currency on a game, surely we have enough to spend a fraction of that sum on a cinema ticket. After all, games can wait, films are only in cinema for a short time.

I for one, will be buying GTAIV (then scuttling home to make sweet love to it), then going out and seeing Iron Man on the day of release. Why? Because I like them both.

I wouldn't say it would interupt the ticket sales.

I would say however that Iron Man will be a piece of crap. A shiny, gold-plated piece of crap but a piece of crap just the same. GTA however, will be one of the best gaming experiences of this year. Sales figures isn't really a good way to messure quality in the movie business, but in this case I think the only "best film ever!" reviews will come from 12-year olds.

As pointed out above, and in the comment thread in that IGN article, those "Hollywood executives" were blaming Halo 3 for the failure of a mediocre Stiller flick. The phrase "clutching at straws" comes to mind...

I take this less as a reason to watch GTA IV's market position, and more as a warning that folks aren't too confident in Iron Man. Dammit. I was looking forward to that flick... Downey is the perfect Tony Stark. (No offense intended to Downey. Or Stark, for that matter.)

-- Steve

I found it funny that over at Empire and the film websites, everyone was peeing themselves over what was a very average trailer. Am I the only person who thinks this film will be spectacularly average?

Ah, but it will be a well-made and beautiful spectacularly average movie! That makes all the difference.

j-e-f-f-e-r-s:
I found it funny that over at Empire and the film websites, everyone was peeing themselves over what was a very average trailer. Am I the only person who thinks this film will be spectacularly average?

I think you're being incredibly nice by saying even that.

j-e-f-f-e-r-s:
I found it funny that over at Empire and the film websites, everyone was peeing themselves over what was a very average trailer. Am I the only person who thinks this film will be spectacularly average?

Its the MySpace reference.

Internet nuts go crazy when they get even the slightest reference in pop-culture. Or something.

i dont get this... i mean its tough they should have done their research

If anything it should boost the sales. When ever I go out to town and buy stuff (this case being a game) I would probably want to go and watch a movie while I'm there as well.

I can't think of any decent games that made their first announced release date.

They needn't worry, GTA will be delayed and Iron Man will be saved.

This isn't the first release date though, is it? The game was supposed to be out in November last year, I think that extra 5 months is enough to make sure it's not put back again.