Freddy Scares Up Box Office

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"Nightmare on Elm Street"Freddy scares up box-office win
May 2, 2010, 12:55 PM EST
By Daniel Frankel
TheWrap

The Warner/New Line reboot of "Nightmare on Elm Street" enjoyed the best April/May horror opening ever this weekend, grossing $32.2 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

Penned by franchise creator Wes Craven and produced by Michael Bay, the latest "Nightmare" features Jackie Earle Haley in the title role Robert Englund held through nine films starting in 1984. "Nightmare"'s opening already has the studio committing to a 3-D sequel.

"We don't have a story yet, but this is the largest horror opening in the April-May corridor, and it just proves there's a lot left in the franchise," said Warner distribution president Dan Fellman.

More from TheWrap: Fast $32.2 million for Freddy

Overall, the domestic box office finished 37 percent off the pace set on the comparable weekend last year, when Fox opened "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" to $85 million.

Finishing second in its sixth weekend of release, DreamWorks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon" continued its strong hold on family audiences, grossing another $10.8 million, declining less than 30 percent week to week and upping its six-week cumulative gross to $192.4 million.

With "Dragon" still going strong, the weekend's other wide release, Summit Entertainment's PG-rated "Furry Vengeance," found little traction with family audiences, opening in fifth place with $6.5 million.

The film, starring Brendan Fraser and co-financed by Summit, along with Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dhabi, costs $35 million to produce, before significant location tax breaks and rebates were thrown in. Pre-release tracking predicted an opening in the $7 million-$10 million range.

Here's how the top 10 broke down:
1. "A Nightmare on Elm Street," $32.2 million
2. "How to Train Your Dragon," $10.8 million
3. "Date Night," $7.6 million
4. "The Back-Up Plan," $7.2 million
5. "Furry Vengeance," $6.5 million
6. "The Losers," $6 million
7. "Clash of the Titans," $6 million
8. "Kick-Ass," $4.5 million
9. "Death at a Funeral," $4 million
10. "Oceans" $2.6 million