There was room for only one new release this week: Iron Man 2. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? The sequel to 2008’s second most profitable film launched in a record 4,380 locations and earned an estimated $52 million. That includes $7.5 million from Thursday-midnight screenings on 3,000 screens and gives IM2 the biggest debut of 2010 - surpassing the $40.8 million Tim Burton’s 3D-enhanced Alice in Wonderland made on its first Friday. Iron Man 2 also managed to best its progenitor. In 2008 the original Iron Man debuted with $38.7 million including $3.5 million in midnight dollars. There was some talk about IM2 breaking the all-time first weekend figure of $158.4 million set by The Dark Knight in 2008 but with projections now stalled at about $135 through Sunday it looks like the studio may have to settle for coming in fourth or fifth instead. My guess is they’re OK with that. Full details on Iron Man 2's weekend run when you check back tomorrow!

Title

Friday

Total

1

Iron Man 2

$52,000,000

$52

2

Nightmare on Elm Street

$3,300,000

$42.6

3

Date Night

$1,600,000

$77.1

4

How to Train Your Dragon

$1,500,000

$195.8

5

The Back-Up Plan

$1,400,000

$26.4