The theme song for the old "Speed Racer" cartoon included the phrase, "Go, Speed Racer, go."

But in theaters across the country, where the movie came in a distant second to last week's chart-topper "Iron Man," audiences modified it to, "No, 'Speed Racer,' no."

That was especially true in Inland Southern California, where the movie came in third place behind "Iron Man" and the Cameron Diaz-Ashton Kutcher screwball romantic comedy "What Happens in Vegas."

"'Iron Man' is not worried," said Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, which follows the industry. "The film has been cheered by critics and audiences, plus competition from new films is not too strong."

Inland audiences were out in full force this weekend: The top four movies overperformed in the Inland area, and the box office in the region was up 19 percent over the same weekend last year.

That good news wasn't just a regional trend, either. Nationally, the box office was up 17 percent, according to the Movie Marketplace.

For "Iron Man," that translated to a national per-theater average of $12,284. In the Inland region, where audiences gravitate toward action movies and PG-13 movies, the film had a per-theater average of $16,899.

The Inland area's No. 2 movie, "What Happens in Vegas," had a per-theater average in the region of $8,511, compared with $6,221 nationally.

"Speed Racer" made $6,545 per theater in the Inland area, compared with $5,605 nationally.

While the national per-theater average is lower than the national per-theater average for "What Happens in Vegas," "Speed Racer" opened in more theaters, which may help explain why it made it to the No. 2 spot nationally.

In the region, "Speed Racer" was in 31 theaters, while "What Happens in Vegas" was in only 28 theaters.

"Drillbit Taylor," in its eighth week of release, is at No. 9 on the regional top 10. It made $3,337 per theater in the region, more than "Made of Honor," which made $3,215 per theater in the region during its second week of release.

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