'Iron Man' laps 'Speed Racer' overseas

May 12, 2008 Some sharp curves slowed down the second lap of the overseas summer season, as "Speed Racer" failed to catch up to front-runner "Iron Man," which led the race for a second weekend with an estimated $39 million from 7,760 screens in 57 territories to raise its international gross to about $165 million. "Speed Racer," the Wachowski brothers' live-action adaptation of a Japanese animated TV series, pulled in $12.6 million from 3,940 sites at 30 tracks and failed to gain sufficient speed to hold off romantic-comedy counterprogramr "What Happens in Vegas," which moved behind "Iron Man" with a neat $24.2 million from 4,113 locations in 36 markets. Paramount's "Iron Man" showed a decline of an estimated 60%, considered a standard drop for a mass-released action entry.

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