'Iron Man 2' Soars in Opening Weekend

Paramount Pictures' Iron Man 2, starring Robert Downey, Jr., rocketed to a massive opening weekend, bringing in $128 million to take first place.

Last weekend's #1 picture, Warner Bros. remake of Nightmare on Elm Street, plummeted 72% in its second weekend, bringing in $9 million for a $48.5 million take so far.

DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon continued to hold over well, dropping 37% to $6.7 million in its 7th weekend.  This weekend's third place finish means the picture has passed last year's Monsters vs. Aliens for a total of $201 million to date.

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One, Two, Freddy Came For You

Warner Bros. reboot of the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, starring Jackie Earle Haley as Freddy Krueger, took the #1 spot at the box office over the weekend, with $32.2 million.   This is a very respectable opening in the series, although not as strong as Freddy vs. Jason's $36M opening weekend in 2003.

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'Clash' Krakens Easter Weekend

Warner Bros' Clash of the Titans opened this Easter weekend with $61.4 million in ticket sales.  The film probably would have grossed even higher, but had its 3D screen availability limited by other recent 3D releases Alice in Wonderland and How to Train Your Dragon.  Even with limited 3D screens, the higher priced tickets represented approximately $31 million of its opening frame debut.  Critical response to the film has been mixed, but audience exit polls are very favorable, meaning the film will likely recoup its $125 million production budget over the next few weeks.

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'Wonderland' Slain by 'Dragon'

Paramount & DreamWorks' mega-budgeted 3D animated film How To Train Your Dragon started its run with a strong (but not record-breaking) $43.3 million this weekend.  With a $165 million budget, their timing is perfect; much of the target audience is on Spring Break and the Easter long weekend is coming up.  As is the norm these days for tent pole pictures, much of the gross came from 3D and IMAX 3D screens.

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New Arrivals Can't Top 'Wonderland', but 'Wimpy Kid' Kicks Ass

Three new wide releases were unable to topple Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland from the top spot at the box office this weekend.  Burton's 3D continuation of the Alice In Wonderland story picked up an additional $34.2 million, bringing its cumulative total to just over $265 million for distributing studio Disney.

Second place went to another family film, 20th Century Fox's Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Diary had an impressive $22.1 million in its first weekend.  With no above the line stars, tough competition from Alice In Wonderland and a modest $15 million budget, it's obvious Fox can't be anything but happy with that result.

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