If this were NASCAR, Team Racer might have earned a suspension for this weekend’s antics. Variety reports Warner Bros. big budget adaptation of Speed Racer got its widely publicized second-place finish by the studio fudging its numbers.

Racer actually pulled in $18.6 million, putting it in third place at the weekend box-office behind Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz’s comedy What Happens in Vegas. Rival studios were very skeptical of the $20 million number when Warner released it. To pull $20 million, it would have needed strong viewership on Sunday, which was Mother’s Day. Did you take your mom to see Speed Racer Sunday? Didn’t think so.

Why do companies do this? To save a little bit of face. All the Monday morning stories (including mine) listed Racer as the second-place film over the weekend. Of course, even at the inflated number they all pointed out how big a disappointment the film was. The special effects spectacle cost an estimated $120 million to make and it’s rumored Warner Bros. spent another $100 million promoting it.

Taking in less than $20 million its opening weekend and drawing almost universally bad reviews, Racer will be lucky to pull $50 million during its run. Warner execs hope it will have legs as a family flick but it will have heavy competition in that market. The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian will likely be the destination film for families this weekend and after that, the new Indiana Jones sequel hits.

© 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Video game movies are usually pretty bad, to put it mildly. Knowing that the license alone will sell it in most cases, companies just take the checks rolling in for the shovelware.

But in a reversal of usual trends, the Speed Racer game has earned positive reviews. The game has been better received than the movie, in fact, which will be lucky to break $50 million by most accounts. Game Rankings, a site that compiles video game reviews, says the Speed Racer game is tracking at an average of 70 percent. In contrast, last week’s Iron Man game has an average rating of 51 percent. That’s much closer to where movie-based games usually end up. Iron Man’s rating is especially disappointing as it’s done by Sega, who is also handling development chores for the Incredible Hulk movie game as well.

© 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

According to numbers provided by Nielsen, Marvel Comics’ Iron Man has made $177 million in 10 days. It raked in $50 million this past weekend to remain atop the box office charts.

Warner Bros. Speed Racer, which at one time was thought a potential rival for Iron Man, stalled into second place with $20 million. Critics mostly panned this Wachowski Bros. adaptation of the popular anime. Its price tag is rumored to be well over $100 million with millions more spent on marketing. Warner can’t be happy with this abysmal opening, Racer just barely edging out romcom What Happens In Vegas. Warner execs are already confirming there’s not much chance they’ll recoup their money on this one.

Tony Stark will face some heavy hitters in the battle for his lofty perch the next two weeks. The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian opens May 16 while Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is coming May 22.

© 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.

If the Wachowskis can’t make a convincing live-action anime, I don’t know who can. Their Matrix films were as close to that as any movies ever have been. There’s much of that style at work here, throwing a lot of colors, kung fu and car chases at the screen in the hopes some of it makes sense.

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