Well, it doesn’t quite measure up to Iron Man’s opening, nor does it compete with even the first Hulk movie, but there are several reasons Marvel Studios should be encouraged by Incredible Hulk’s $54.5 million opening. First, it was $20 million ahead of the next-closest feature, Kung Fu Panda, currently in its second week of release; second, it seems like a movie that, rather than losing steam fast on bad word of mouth as the first Hulk movie did, seems to be holding a bit more steady, thanks in part to a cameo by Robert Downey Jr. in his Iron Man/Tony Stark persona, which gave Incredible Hulk some legs off the goodwill generated by the very successful Iron Man movie.

Rather than go with big-name director Ang Lee this time, Marvel went with a lesser name directing, but a more faithful adaptation of its comic book hero. Instead of an artsy mess, this Hulk movie delivers all the expected “Hulk smash!” action that the first one failed to deliver. The film also fields a fresh cast to make the break from the Ang Lee-directed mess complete.

Replacing Eric Bana is Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, and replacing Jennifer Connelly as Betty Ross is Liv Tyler, hot off her appearance in the surprise summer slasher hit, The Strangers. Plus, comic fans were thrilled to see Hulk battling his arch-nemesis, the Abomination, rather than a bunch of stupid Hulk-Dogs. Incredible Hulk is an upgrade in most every respect, including a trim $150 million budget, a third of which the movie has already made back; by the time it has enjoyed its domestic run and raked in some foreign receipts, this is a Hulk film that ought to make money.

As mentioned earlier, Kung Fu Panda held firm at second place with $34.3 million, and just short of $118 million domestically in its second week of release, which should have voice star Jack Black selecting out new home furniture with his royalty payments; followed closely by M. Night Shyamalan’s R-rated The Happening, which did better than expected, raking in $30.5 million to take third place, a take that will certainly be good news after the slim $60 million budget it took to make the flick.

Adam Sandler’s You Don’t Mess With the Zohan was solid in fourth place with about half that take, at $16.4 million; Indiana Jones added $13.5 million in fifth place, once again besting Sex and the City in staying power.

Sex dropped out of the top five but did decent business as alternative programming to the male- and child-dominated selections at the box office. Sex took in $10.1 million in its third week. No other movie cracked the $10 million mark, although four other flicks did $1 million or better. They are Iron Man ($5.1 million after seven weeks in release), The Strangers ($4.0 million), Prince Caspian ($3 million), and What Happens In Vegas ($1.7 million.), which means all Top 10 movies grossed at least $1.7 million or more.