I hate to say I told you so, but: Using the Price is Right rule book -- closest without going over -- the only Movieline staffer to accurately predict the opening weekend gross for Iron Man 2 was yours truly. High five! Anyway, as expected, the Marvel sequel got the summer box office season started in a big way, grossing more than the other films in the top-ten combined... 3.6 times over. So, ka-ching. Grab an Iron Man 2-approved Dr. Pepper and click ahead, it's time for some weekend receipts.
1. Iron Man 2
Gross: $133,600,000 (new)
Screens: 4,380 (PSA: $30,502)
Weeks: 1
Okay, the bad news is that Iron Man 2 didn't break The Dark Knight's opening weekend record. And that's the only bad news. The $133.6 million start was the fifth highest opening weekend of all-time and the second biggest May debut ever. It's also well-liked: Audiences gave Iron Man 2 an A-grade on CinemaScore and ticket sales dropped just 11% between Friday and Saturday meaning early word of mouth is strong. Can you imagine what these numbers would look like in 3D? Maybe next time.
2. A Nightmare on Elm Street
Gross: $9,170,000 ($48,530,000)
Screens: 3,332 (PSA: $2,752)
Weeks: 2 (change: -72.1%)
When it comes to depreciation, A Nightmare on Elm Street ranks behind only the remake of Friday the 13th and Bruno on the list of biggest second weekend drops for movies that opened with more than $30 million. Now that's a nightmare.
3. How to Train Your Dragon
Gross: $6,760,000 ($201,093,000)
Screens: 3,003 (PSA: $2,251)
Weeks: 7 (change: -36.3%)
Hooray: How to Train Your Dragon finally crossed $200 million in domestic sales, making it the fifth Dreamworks Animation release -- and only second non-Shrek one -- to do so. It also crossed into "How many more things can you possibly write about How to Train Your Dragon after seven weeks?" territory.
4. Date Night
Gross: $5,300,000 ($80,854,000)
Screens: 2,734 (PSA: $1,939)
Weeks: 5 (change: -30.1%)
For the sequel, can Fox cast Betty White as Tina Fey's wisecracking old grandmother?
5. The Back-Up Plan
Gross: $4,345,000 ($29,415,000)
Screens: 3,003 (PSA: $1,447)
Weeks: 3 (change: -40.1%)
It's hard to imagine -- three weeks into its release -- people still walking up to the ticket counter and saying, "One for The Back-Up Plan, please," but, hey, to each their own.