LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "Iron Man 2's" opening weekend put it at the fifth-largest opening weekend ever. Based on Marvel Comic's gadget-happy billionaire superhero, the sequel far surpassed the original, which debuted at $98.6 million.  

"We're thrilled with the combination of the way it's playing across the board," said Don Harris, Paramount's vice president of distribution. "It's playing as a fan boy movie, but it's also playing as family movie, too. I even know a bunch of people who are planning to take their mothers to see 'Iron Man 2' on Mother's Day, which really made me chuckle," Harris says.

However - it seems that Bruce Wayne still has the last laugh over Iron Man's Tony Stark. In spite of Tony Stark's strong showing, "Iron Man 2" didn't beat the $158.4 million bow of "The Dark Knight" in 2008 or the $151.1 million debut of "Spider-Man 3" in 2007. It also didn't surpass last year's $142.8 million dawn of "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" or the $135.6 million course charted by "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" in 2006.

Last week's box office looked something like this:
 
1. "Iron Man 2," $133.6 million.
2. "A Nightmare on Elm Street," $9.1 million.
3. "How to Train Your Dragon," $6.7 million.
4. "Date Night," $5.3 million.
5. "The Back-up Plan," $4.3 million.
6. "Furry Vengeance," $4 million.
7. "Clash of the Titans," $2.3 million.
8. "Death at a Funeral," $2.1 million.
9. "The Losers," $1.8 million.
10. "Babies," $1.5 million.
 
As seen by the wide divide between "Iron Man 2" and No. 2's "A Nightmare on Elm Street" remake, there was no stopping this week's superhero sequel. "A Nightmare on Elm Street," fell to No. 2 with $9.1 million, clawing to a total of $48.5 million. DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon" remained at No. 3 with $6.7 million, bringing its seven-week total to $201 million.