Was there any doubt in your mind what movie was going to take the top spot? I didn't think so. Frankly, there would have had to be some catastrophic collapse in the support around Iron Man 2 for it not to take the it. Well, I think we can all agree that there was no collapse, and the movie delivered it's promise of box office supremacy. It is also a pretty darn good movie. It did leg its way to an opening weekend tally just north of $128 million. The mark is the fifth biggest opening weekend ever and the second biggest May opening, trailing only Spider-Man 3. I believe it fell shy of predictions; I know I was hoping for more, but why complain? It made a ton of cash, it's a solid movie and people will see it.
Coming in a very, very, very distant second is last week's number one movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street. The Samuel Bayer directed remake plummeted more than 70% in its sophomore frame. I cannot say this comes as a surprise, but it is a little higher than I expected. The movie surely divides the audience and I knew I was going to be in the minority as soon as I left the theater. I liked it, and I thought they did a very good job of making Freddy creepy again and putting a new spin on his story. I suspect it will see good life on home video.
Third place belongs to How to Train Your Dragon, which has now crossed the $200 million mark. This movie is having a very nice run. It is a solid film with some of the best 3D I have seen yet, right up there with Avatar. The technology is used very intelligently. Sure there are pop out moments, but they are effectively used to generate depth and the illusion of speed and motion. It is smooth and works with the film rather than as a tool of the film. Very nice and well worth seeing.
Fourth place is Date Night, which is quietly (well, it seems quiet) having a solid run having made more than $80 million. It is the collaboration of two of television's top sitcom stars, with a nice collection of supporting characters. It does not try to do too much and the filmmakers seem just content to have some fun.
The rest of the list does not hold any surprises, except perhaps the other new release of the weekend, Babies. The documentary takes a look at four different babies from four different parts of the world. It squeaked into the top ten in ninth place. This will likely be its only appearance on the list.
Article comments