It looks like Marvel can close up shop and cancel all plans for their shared universe. “Iron Man 2” has failed, loudly and embarrassingly. By not achieving the biggest box office weekend of all time, and only ranking fifth overall (with only a meager $300 million worldwide total), “Iron Man 2” is now an irrelevant curio that will no longer be worth discussion by next week when the expected four quadrant mega-blockbuster “Robin Hood” hits screens. Hey Joe Johnston and Kenneth Branagh, time to hang up that star-spangled shield and mighty hammer for next summer, because those puppies might as well go straight to DVD.
The rest of the weekend was even quieter, believe it or not. Did we call the ginormous audience loss for “A Nightmare On Elm Street”? Didn’t everyone? Hey, Platinum Dunes – aside from the first weekend troglodytes who use their cell phones in the theater and talk to the screen, no one wants to see your reheated garbage anymore. That used to be good enough for a profit. Does it still work like that after those pricey “Nightmare” reshoots, guys? Even if it does, we hope money talks, because if it does, we’d like to think it specifically tells you, “STOP DOING THIS.”
At #3, “How To Train Your Dragon” crossed $200 million and, while it lost plenty of IMAX screens, it had a pretty strong hold yet again. The current target is “Kung-Fu Panda” at $215 million, which is completely beatable, though “Toy Story 3” could make the “Dragon” box office discussion a dinosaur. And we all know there’s a thin line between dinosaurs and dragons, right? “The Back-Up Plan” crawled to a respectable $30 million, with an eye towards $40-45, which CBS Films has to be very happy with, while at the bottom of the lineup, “Clash of the Titans” has had enough legs to hold onto the bottom of the lineup with impressive strength. “Babies,” which looked like an estrogen-fueled version of “Ass: The Movie” debuted at number ten on only 534 screens, but the per-screen was weaker than, well, a baby. A one-armed baby, maybe. But the baby has an eyepatch, so it’s a pirate baby. Still, a baby.
In limited release, “Mother And Child” pulled in $44k on four screens, while the Timothy Hutton drama “Multiple Sarcasms” was feeble in a seventeen-screen showcase, nabbing only $17k worth of audiences. “Please Give” had solid second weekend numbers, using an expansion to pull in $253k on 26 screens, while “Exit Through The Gift Shop” did solid fourth weekend business with $194k on 31 screens. “Harry Brown” pulled in solid averages in its second weekend, with a $140k on 43 screens, which is all gravy considering the film was wildly popular overseas. And finally, the “Metropolis” restoration pulled in very strong numbers in two theaters, grossing $22k. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, guys. It’s Mother’s Day, take her to see Rotwang and Maria. Or “The Human Centipede.” Just support your local art house.
1. Iron 2 Man – $128.1 million
2. A Nightmare On Elm Street – $9.2 million ($48 mil.)
3. How To Squeeze Your Naughty Dragon – $6.8 million ($201 mil.)
4. Date Night – $5.3 million ($81 mil.)
5. The Back-Up Plan – $4.3 million ($29 mil.)
6. Furry Convention – $4 million ($12 mil.)
7. Clash Of The Titans – $2.3 million ($159 mil.)
8. Death At A Funeral – $2.1 million ($38 mil.)
9. The Losers – $1.8 million ($21 mil.)
10. Babysploitation – $1.6 million