Weekend US box office report: Iron Man 2 blasts the competition
Iron Man 2 smashes its way to the top of the US box office, leaving very few spoils to share amongst everyone else...
Well, after Iron Man 2's massive international launch ($194 million and counting), the American launch was eagerly awaited. It did not disappoint. Iron Man 2, despite negative comparisons to Iron Man, still managed to wallop its predecessor's opening weekend, bringing in a staggering $133.6 million in its opening weekend. The summer movie blockbuster season has officially started, ladies and gentlemen. It'll only get bigger from here.
The weekend's other starter, Babies, overcame equally divided criticism to debut in tenth place this weekend, with only $1.5 million. Then again, Babies also had nearly 3,800 less screens to work with and a whole lot less marketing money, corporate tie-ins, and general pomp and circumstance. However, what it lacks in star power it makes up for in adorable babyness.
Last weekend's number one flick, A Nightmare On Elm Street, suffered the horrible fate of having to do battle with Tony Stark. Unsurprisingly, it got walloped. Nightmare dropped over 72% from last weekend to this, bringing in an additional $9.17 million. Nightmare's edging towards $50 million in the States, which will probably ensure a sequel or two.
Speaking of flicks that will have a sequel, DreamWorks' How To Train Your Dragon drops to third place this weekend, yet still hangs on to a great deal of its domestic tickets, picking up $6.76 million over the weekend. So far in the States, the movie has grossed $201 million, making up for a slow start thanks to lots and lots of consistent popularity.
Speaking of consistent popularity, Date Night has once again managed to hold onto its audience, losing only 30% of ticket sales in spite of the fact that the Iron Man crowd has some crossover with its business. Date Night dropped to fourth, but still held onto $5.3 million this weekend, and has crossed $80 million in the US.
The Back-Up Plan drops to fifth, but it's been pretty much a non-starter aside from its opening weekend. The film racked up $4.35 million, but at least they can proudly say they're not Furry Vengeance. The $35-million film has been a box office bust, barely breaking $4 million this weekend, unable to unseat a film going on two months old, and generally punching holes in the ‘Brendan Fraser is great box office in kids' movies' theory that keeps getting him cast in these flicks.
Clash Of The Titans falls to seventh place, for the second week in a row. The box office dents are now showing, as the movie picked up only $2.3 million ($200k more than eighth place Death At A Funeral), but I'm sure all involved are happy with the film's $157 million US box office. Not bad for a flick that came out before the summer blockbusters started and had quite the controversial 3D re-editing.
The Losers falls big, from sixth to ninth this weekend, picking up only $1.8 million. It's possible the flick will break even in the US, but it's kind of a long shot. Kind of a shame, because I thought it was very entertaining, if nothing special. Kind of makes me look forward to seeing Chris Evans in Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Captain America, and The Avengers. He was fun in The Losers, and I think he'll be fun when he dominates 2011.
Coming out this weekend is Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe's medieval Gladiator, Robin Hood. Also out is the lovely and talented Amanda Seyfried's romance, Letters To Juliet. There's also the movie's romantic comedy polar opposite, Just Wright, starring Common and Queen Latifah.
It'll be interesting to see which of the movies picks up more of the box office slack. I'll be bold and say Robin Hood gets beaten by Iron Man 2, but Robin and company outpace the new romantics.
