While Iron Man's Away, Freddy Krueger Plays

Nightmare on Elm Street remake rules superhero-free box office; "most disgusting horror film of all-time" makes noise, too

By Joal Ryan May 02, 2010 5:20 PMTags
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With Iron Man 2 busy overseas, Freddy Krueger and the "most disgusting horror film of all-time" cleaned up here.

The reborn A Nightmare on Elm Street led the weekend box office with an estimated $32.2 million, while the newly spawned The Human Centipede crawled to a big number at its solo theater debut.

More results, including the latest on exactly what Iron Man 2 was up to:

Elm Street's opening is the biggest for an Elm Street flick, but not for a Freddy Krueger film. The Freddy vs. Jason hybrid broke $36 million in 2003.

• The Human Centipede grossed—and there's really no better word to describe the "medically accurate" exercise in horror—$12,500 at one brave and/or sick theater. Only the Nicole Holofcener comedy/drama Please Give ($128,696 at five theaters), starring Catherine Keener, boasted a higher per-screen average.

• Iron Man 2 has banked its first $100 million. The superhero sequel scored just over that mark on 6,700-plus screens in 53 countries this weekend, Paramount Pictures reported today. The presumed first blockbuster of the summer box-office season opens here (finally) on Wednesday Friday. (Sorry. We're getting antsy for opening night, too.)

• Oh, yes, Furry Vengeance… Almost forgot. Well, the $35 million family comedy opened better than Brendan Fraser's last box-office dud, Extraordinary Measures, which isn't saying much, since the former bowed with $6 million and the latter opened with $6.5 million.

• In its second weekend, Jennifer Lopez's The Back-Up Plan ($7.2 million; $22.9 million overall) held up OK, but that's about all it did.

• In its 20th weekend—yes, 20th weekend—James Cameron's Avatar ($635,000; $747.3 million overall) held up great considering it's out on DVD now.

• It looks like the Top 10 run is over for Miley Cyrus' The Last Song ($2.3 million) after four weekends. The $20 million romance has made a solid $58.7 million to date.

• Alice in Wonderland ($1.5 million) is out of the Top 10 after eight weekends, and a 2010-best $329.7 million.

Here's a rundown of the weekend's top-grossing films Friday-Sunday, per estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

  1. A Nightmare on Elm Street, $32.2 million
  2. How to Train Your Dragon, $10.8 million
  3. Date Night, $7.6 million
  4. The Back-Up Plan, $7.2 million
  5. Furry Vengeance, $6.5 million
  6. The Losers, $6 million
  7. Clash of the Titans, $5.98 million
  8. Kick-Ass, $4.5 million
  9. Death at a Funeral, $4 million
  10. Oceans, $2.6 million 

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Want to delete mental images of Freddy Krueger and The Human Centipede? Let our delightful Summer Movie Guide help.