After the film opened strong in the weekend, occupying the first place in the Weekend BoxOffice Mojo top, with $100,750,000 in ticket sales, it’s no wonder Marvel Entertainment announced it was planning an "Iron Man" sequel that would be released on April 30, 2010.

In its earnings report Monday morning the company revealed its film release plans for the next three years, Reuters informs.

Apparently, four other movies based on Marvel superheroes are due to be released: "Thor," which will open June 4, 2010; "The First Avenger: Captain America," May 6, 2011; "The Avengers," July 2011; and "Ant-Man," of which the release date has not yet been communicated.

"Because Marvel believes that the summer is the optimal time to launch a new property, the company will not release a self produced film in 2009," the company said, according to Reuters.

Marvel Studios said that "Iron Man 2" would hit theaters on April 30, 2010, but did not say which parts of the creative team would participate to the sequel’s development.

"Iron Man" was the first film financed entirely by Marvel, who previously licensed his comic books characters to Hollywood studios for blockbusters such as "Spider Man” or "X-Men."

"Iron Man" exceeded box office expectations, almost equaling "Spider Man’"s success, which opened in May 2002 and earned $114.800,000 million in its first weekend.

Enjoying many favorable reviews, the movie boosted the career of Robert Downey Jr., who plays the role of Tony Stark, a billionaire weapons manufacturer which turns himself into a superhero, after being kidnapped by terrorists in Afghanistan.

According to the Associated Press, Downey’s character, Stark, will also make an appearance in "The Incredible Hulk," which is due to come out June 13 from Universal Studios.

"Iron Man" probably owes its success to the astonishing special effects, galloping action and extremely amusing moments, which make it entertaining equally for kids and grown-ups, for hi-tech fans and romantics alike.