Super-hero blockbuster sequel "Iron Man 3" stayed on top at the U.S. box office after it's mega debut a week earlier, but "The Great Gatsby" was also a power player, industry estimates showed Sunday, May 13, AFP reported.

On its second weekend in U.S. theaters, "Iron Man 3," starring Robert Downey Jr as the title character, took in $72.5 million, according to industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Added to its take since it opened last weekend with $175.3 million, the second biggest box office debut ever , the comic book superhero flick has now racked up a total of $284.9 million.

But "The Great Gatsby," starring Leonardo Di Caprio in Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of the literary classic, was a respectable number two, with $51.1 million in box office receipts in its opening weekend.

The rest of the movies in the week's top ten trailed far behind, with action-comedy "Pain and Gain," starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, earning a comparatively paltry $5 million for third place.

In the fourth spot, romantic comedy "Peeples," starring Craig Robinson as a boyfriend who initially fails to impress the tony family of his girlfriend, played by Kerry Washington, took in $4.9 million.

Not far behind was "42," a biopic about trailblazing black baseball star Jackie Robinson, which made $4.7 million for fifth place.

The sixth spot, with $3.9 million, went to "Oblivion," the post-apocalyptic action flick starring Tom Cruise, followed by "The Croods", a stone-age cartoon in seventh, with $3.6 million.