Now that more people see video games as mainstream, analysts are looking at how movies have a new serious competitor. Case in point is Janco Partners' Mike Hickey, who believes Grand Theft Auto IV's (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3) wildly anticipated release may allow Rockstar to take the spotlight away from Iron Man's debut on the silver screen.

As Hickey noted, GTA IV's April 29 release is too close for the comfort to Iron Man's May 2 launch. The analyst said his group is expecting the game to dampen the movie's potential, citing Halo 3's spectacular sales on one platform and almost 50% attach rate as a sign of things to come.

Hickey foresees a 25% combined attach rate for Grand Theft Auto IV across the PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms, which means 5.8 million units sold in the first week alone. In the event of that successful launch, retail sales will reach $360 million.

Buy: [ GTA IV (PS3) ]
Buy: [ GTA IV (Xbox 360) ]