Will "GTA IV" prove the chink in "Iron Man"?

The big question on the Web going into this weekend is whether enthusiasm over “Grand Theft Auto IV,” which is expected to break the sales records set by “Halo 3,” will damage the all-important first-weekend take for the highly anticipated film “Iron Man.”

Despite criticism from MADD and other groups, “GTA IV” is receiving rave reviews and notching great sales. Our own Matt Price of Nerdage reports, via Reuters UK, that “GTA IV” broke single-day sales records in Great Britain, with sales of 609,000 copies.

“GTA IV” was released Tuesday at midnight and is expected to gross about $400 million in the first week, according to this interesting CNN.com report.

The story quotes Edward Woo, a research analyst specializing in media and interactive entertainment, as predicting:  “‘Iron Man’ will still have a pretty good release, but intuitively, I think it’s got be impacted when both share a similar audience and genre.”

But the story also includes a quote from Paramount Pictures Vice Chairman Rob Moore, who told EW.com: “It’s crazy to think that young males can’t carve out two hours for ‘Iron Man.’ It’s going to be a great week to be a young guy.”

I think it’s important to point out that “GTA IV” takes 30 to 65 hours to complete, depending on skill level. Unless they took a week off from work/school or are independently wealthy, people who stood in line to buy it Tuesday at midnight already have been forced to put down the controller at least once or twice.

My take: It’s a pretty safe bet that most will find 2 1/2 hours to see “Iron Man” this weekend on the big screen, especially after the largely rave reviews. RottenTomatoes.com has “Iron Man” with a 94 percent rating and is touting it as the best-reviewed movie of the year.