Iron Man scared of Grand Theft Auto?

The Financial Times recently spoke with Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello on two potential spring blockbusters: the silver screen's "Iron Man" and the controversial, fashionably twisted mafioso crimefest, Rockstar Entertainment's "Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA4)."

For those not hip to gaming culture, GTA is on the same popularity/financial level as Bungie's "Halo," which recently set an opening-day U.S. sales record (including movies, music, etc.) by bringing in over $170 million.

Iron Man is slated to hit the big screen on May 2, just three days after GTA4's launch on Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's Playstation 3 consoles. Still following? Good.

Now here comes the dilemma: Do you drop $8.50 for a movie lasting an hour and a half, or $60 for 50 hours in front of the idiot box? With the economy nowadays, people probably aren't going to drop money on both (at least within such a close time period of each other).

"The buzz in Hollywood, which I heard from some Hollywood folks...is people are worried whether Iron Man the movie is going to get killed by Grand Theft Auto the game," Riccitiello told the Times.

Is the supposed fear well-founded? Perhaps, especially if the past is any indication.

According to Rockstar, the most recent GTA game, "San Andreas," has sold more than 21.5 million copies as of March 26.

Yep. Be afraid.