The suit’s shinier, the lines cockier, the romance bigger. Robert Downey Jr is back as Tony Stark and Calcutta made a beeline for the box office on Friday to keep a date with the superhero.

At Fame (South City), all shows of Iron Man 3 from morning to late evening on Friday were nearly houseful. “While the 3D shows were full, the 2D screenings recorded 75 to 80 per cent occupancy,” revealed a Fame Cinemas official.

Shows for Saturday and Sunday at the plex have already notched up advance bookings in excess of 50 per cent, a major feat for a Holly film in town. “Iron Man 3 is doing exceptionally well at our properties. The response at Forum, in particular, has been fantastic,” said Subhasis Ganguli, regional director, INOX.

The story was the same at multiplexes across the city where fans of the Marvel Comics franchise that traces the metamorphosis of billionaire Tony Stark into the superhero in the iron suit trooped in for a show as early as 9am and clapped and hooted for their hero.

Like franchise fan Chandana Chakraborty, who kept a first day-first show date with Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark aka Iron Man at Fame (Hiland Park). “The best thing about watching the 9am show was that almost everyone there was a Tony Stark enthusiast and it was great to be able to cheer or go woohoo when he first wears the suit. Even better is the fact that now I can boast to my friends about how I have already watched it and they are yet to,” said the Kalikapur resident.

The third instalment of the franchise where the superhero reveals the man behind the iron — very much in love with Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts — and Ben Kingsley steals the show with his evil turn as Mandarin has opened huge across the world, with trade analysts predicting a blockbuster weekend. And for once, Calcutta is saying hurrah to Holly. All thanks to the likes of Roshni Ali who caught a morning show at Fame (South City). “I didn’t want my friends to spoil the suspense for me and I had to watch it on the first day. The last film I did this for was The Dark Knight Rises in July last year. The hype for this film was huge and I was sure that getting up early on a Friday to watch it was going to be totally worth it and it was!” said the St. Xavier’s College student.

If the fan count on Friday hit the roof, there were many who trudged as far as PVR Avani in Howrah to catch a special preview show on Thursday evening. “I walked in to find the show almost full and it was such a high to find so many fellow Robert Downey Jr fans cheering his every move and every dialogue,” said IT professional Manas Dasgupta.