'The Great Gatsby' opened to an excellent $19.4 million yesterday, but still slightly trailed 'Iron Man 3

It’s all about glitz and iron this weekend at the domestic box office as “Iron Man 3″ in its soph sesh and opener “The Great Gatsby” lead the pack with $19.8 million and $19.4 million from Friday, respectively.

Though it’s neck-and-neck now, the gap between the two is expected to widen significantly by Sunday, with Disney-Marvel’s threequel leading by about $10 million in the high $60 million range.

That said, Warner Bros.’ “Gatsby” is wildly outperforming pre-weekend expectations that had “Iron Man 3″ pummeling it into the $30 million range through Sunday. It will exceed that estimate by about $20 million. For a film surrounded by tentpoles (Paramount bows “Star Trek Into Darkness” next week), and with a $100 million budget after incentives to recoup, this frame is a very good start.

“Iron Man 3″ will fall about 60% from its opening weekend. Actioner has cumed $232.2 million through Friday, bringing its worldwide total to more than $795.6 million. »