The Mother's Day holiday box office in North America boiled down to a head-on clash between a jazz-age love story and a Marvel Comics character-based sci-fi actioner as the latter outperformed to extend its No. 1 finish into the second weekend.

"Iron Man 3," a Robert Downy Jr. starrer from Walt Disney Co., is on track to sell almost 72.5 million U.S. dollar worth of tickets during the Friday-Sunday period to retain first place at U. S. and Canadian cinemas, according to projected statistics released by the distributor.

The third installment of Marvel's superhero franchise is on track for a 285 million dollar two-week gross in North America.

On the international market, the franchise newcomer Shane Black directed superhero film, which also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Ben Kingsley, has grossed a projected 664.1 million dollar worth of tickets.

"The Great Gatsby," Leonardo DiCaprio's highly-anticipated starrer, opened to a 51.12 million dollar gate to place in the second place, which is stronger than expected.

The Baz Luhrmann directed love story, released by Warner Bros., hit 3,535 theaters in the United States and Canada on Friday for a 19.4 million dollar debut. The weekend performance was 72 percent stronger than Warner Bros.' last Mother's Day release "Dark Shadows," which had a 29.69 million dollar opening when it opened last year.

The 3-D adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, which cost about 105 million dollars to make, is a female skewer, as women made up 59 percent and 69 percent was older than 25 years old. Moviegoers who have seen it assigned a "B" CinemaScore to it, which is a sign that the drama might have a long way to go in the box office derby.

The film will open the Cannes Film Festival Wednesday.

"Pain and Gain," from Paramount Pictures, garnered 5 million dollar worth of ticket sales, placing a distant third.

"Tyler Perry Presents Peeples," another debut of the weekend, opened with a disappointing 4.9 million dollar gate to place in fourth. The Lionsgate comedy starring Craig Robinson and Kerry earned a "B-" rating on CinemaScore, which means the film may have a problematic future.

Rounding out the 10 most popular movies this weekend in the United States and Canada were "42" (USD4.7 million), "Oblivion" (3. 9 million), "The Croods" (3.6 million), "The Big Wedding" (2.5 million), "Mud" (2.3 million), and "Oz The Great And Powerful" ( 802,000). Endite

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