Ridley Scott’s expensive, dour, and critically drubbed “Robin Hood” prequel opened to a soft $37.1 million in ticket sales and second place at the North American box office, though it did better overseas.

According to Hollywood.com, which compiles box-office statistics, “Iron Man 2”—a Marvel Entertainment film released by Paramount Pictures that has become the first huge hit of the summer movie season—was No. 1 with about $53 million in its second weekend for a new domestic total of $212.2 million. This picture, which has sold $457 million in global ticket sales, stars Robert Downey Jr. as the quirky industrialist Tony Stark.

Over its first three days, “Robin Hood”—a Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment movie partly financed by Relativity Media—managed a solid $111.1 million in global ticket sales. The picture cost over $200 million, including start-up expenses and not accounting for tax credits.

Universal had hoped “Robin Hood” would mark its turning point. Recently purchased by Comcast, the studio has had a dismal streak at the box office with a line of duds including “Repo Men,” “The Wolfman,” and “Green Zone,” that resulted in a management overhaul.

(article source: The New York Times, image source: New York Daily News)