Freddy Krueger kills weekend box office
By Nicole Sperling, EW
(Entertainment Weekly) — It was a good weekend for Freddy Krueger. The 1980s horror villain is back with a vengeance, with “The Nightmare on Elm Street” remake earning a solid $32 million, landing it in first place at the box office this weekend.
Still, even with the success of “Nightmare” — which stars Jackie Earle Haley as the disfigured madman who kills teenagers in their dreams — this weekend’s box office still couldn’t trump last year’s total in early May, when “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” grossed a boffo $85 million. (Of course, Hollywood will likely make up for it next weekend, when Robert Downey Jr. dons the Iron Man suit once again; the film is already hitting across the season, where its opened in 53 territories this past weekend, taking in $100.2 million)
And though “Nightmare” earned $32 million, the film fell steeply between Friday and Saturday night, and earned a C+ Cinemascore, which suggests that the film hasn’t been very well received by audiences.
Second place for the weekend belonged to “How to Train Your Dragon,” which, once again, held in remarkably well. The PG-rated 3-D flick grossed an estimated $10.8 million, down only 29 percent since last weekend. Its total gross now stands at $192.3 million.
The Steve Carell, Tina Fey-starrer “Date Night” fell only 27 percent, collecting an additional $7.6 million. The PG-13 comedy has now grossed $73.6 million. Not bad for two television stars, huh?
Despite a weak opening, “The Back-Up Plan” held on fairly well its second weekend in theaters. Falling 41 percent, Jennifer Lopez’s romantic comedy grossed an additional $7.2 million to put the film’s two-week total at $22.9 million.
Fifth place for the three-day period went to the other newcomer of the weekend, “Furry Vengeance.” The PG-rated family film earned only $6.5 million but scored a B+ with audiences. The Brendan Fraser-starrer is unlikely to do much business going forward, but considering its a co-production between Summit Entertainment and Participant Pictures, its unlikely the film’s disappointment will hurt either company much.
Sixth place went to “The Losers.” The film — which disappointed in its opening weekend — fell 36 percent its second weekend in theaters, grossing an additional $6 million. The Jeffrey Dean Morgan-Zoe Saldana action flick has collected just $18 million after ten days in release.
“Clash of the Titans” took the seventh spot, earning an estimated $5.9 million, putting its total gross at $154 million.
“Kick-Ass” earned another $4.4 million in its third weekend of release, landing an eighth place finish. The R-rated film continues to fall steeply — it dropped 52 percent, but has grossed a total of $42 million.
“Death at a Funeral” — which took in $4 million — and Disney’s “Oceans” documentary, which raked in $2.6 million, rounded out the top ten. The R-rated Chris Rock comedy lost 50 percent of its value since last weekend, and, in three weeks of release, has grossed $34.7 million. Disney’s doc dropped 57 percent, earning a cume of $13.5 million.
In limited release, the latest Nicole Holofcener drama “Please Give” grossed an impressive $128,696 in five theaters for a strong per-screen average of $25,000. IFC’s disturbing horror flick “Human Centipede” only opened on one screen and earned $12,400 for the frame. Check back next weekend when we discover whether “Iron Man 2” will break box office records.