The third instalment of Iron Man kept on track to earn a billion dollars at the box office following a second hugely successful week on the American movie charts. Iron Man 3 even beat off competition from newcomer The Great Gatsby to maintain it's spot atop the box office, with both films making healthy returns on ticket sales.

The Robert Downey Jr.-starring superhero flick took in  $72.5 million over the weekend, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations, bringing it's overall US takings to $284.9 million. Newcomer The Great Gatsby did put up a fight at the box office and came second with a still-impressive $51.1 million in box office receipts over the weekend, despite receiving mixed reviews and catering for a more specific audience.

Robert Downey Jr
Robert Downey Jr has impressed as Tony Stark yet again

The top two managed to divert most attention at the movies over the weekend, with the rest of the top ten takings falling much further behind the top two. The Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson starring action-comedy Pain and Gain earned a rather unimpressive $5 million to take third place, with romantic comedy Peeples, starring Craig Robinson and Kerry Washington, took in $4.9 million to just miss out on the third spot. The top five was completed by 42, a biopic about trailblazing black baseball star Jackie Robinson, making $4.7 million in takings.

Oblivion, The Croods and Oz the Great and Powerful are still in the top ten, coming in at 6th, 7th and 10th respectively, whilst relative newcomer Mud, staring Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, took 9th place. The star-studded The Big Wedding rounded off the top ten, coming 8th.