411 Box Office Report: How To Train Your Dragon Dominates With $83.7 Million Start

How To Train Your Dragon blasted off at the box office, marking a franchise-best start to easily claim #1. The live action take on the animated fantasy adventure rolled its way to the top spot with $83.7 million. That is by far the best start for the franchise, besting the $55 million opening of 2019’s threequel How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World.

The start reps a big win for Universal, beating out expectations that had it in the $75 million-plus range going into the weekend. Disney may have their occasional fumbles with adapting their animated hits into live action (hello, Snow White) but this is a great start for Universal and comes on the back of a smart marketing campaign that sold audiences on reliving the magic of the original film.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt that the film is quite liked. Dragon scored fairly well with critics, with Rotten Tomatoes aggregating reviews at a 77% positive. Even better, audiences love it with a 98% RT audience average and an A CinemaScore, the latter matching every film in the series to date.

These are great numbers for a film that is drawing in a family audience, and again we have to praise Universal’s marketing of the movie. They effectively got the message out including partnered promotional spots all over, and a making-of special that aired on NBC and Peacock. The more awareness, the bigger the audience; it’s just that simple if you have the money to spend.

Dragon also scored overseas, where it brought in $114.1 million for a worldwide start of $197.8 million. It would not be shocking to see those numbers go higher when the final results are in, but either way this is a win. The movie was spendy of course, but not over-the-top at $150 million and Universal shouldn’t have a problem making a tidy profit on this. The final domestic gross could go as high as $215 million to $220, perhaps more with little new family competition until arguably Superman in a month’s time.

The one competition the film did have was Lilo & Stitch, which predictable fell to #2 in its fourth weekend. Disney’s live action remake redemption film felt the fire from Toothless and brought in $15.5 million, still respectable at a 52% drop after last weekend’s solid hold. No one at Disney is upset at the drop as they’re in fine shape with $366.4 million domestically and $858.4 million worldwide. The film is still looking likely to get around $400 million and $1 billion worldwide isn’t out of the picture. It’s a massive hit on a $100 million production budget.

Celine Song’s The Materialists had a good opening weekend, as it started off with $12 million. That’s above the expected $8 million to $10 million start coming into the weekend and gives A24 its third-biggest opening ever, behind only last year’s Civil War ($25.5 million) and 2018’s Hereditary ($13.5 million). The opening is also more than the entire domestic box office run of Song’s Oscar-nominated Past Lives, which finished out at $11 million.

Romcoms have been slim pickings at the box office in recent years, the common notion being that they don’t have a high enough level of financial success these days. But that ignores the fact that Anyone But You ($88.3 million final domestic take, $218.9 million worldwide) and Ticket To Paradise ($68.3 million/$168.6 million) lead a list of the films in the genre that have done well. We can even add Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy which didn’t hit theaters in the US at all but took in $129.5 million overseas. Short version: the market is there and the films just have to connect.

And so far, Materialists is connecting. It’s a return to form for Dakota Johnson, who does well in this genre (see also: 2016’s How To Be Single which took in $46.8 million stateside). And the addition of Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans boosted the appeal among women for sure. Critics love the film at an 86% RT critical average, though audiences are more wishy-washy at a 69% RT audience rating and a B= CinemaScore.

All that means that while Materialists may not leg out like Anyone But You (which had the benefit of a holiday release window), it should be in fine shape. The film cost $20 million and thus far has added $3.5 million overseas for $15.5 million total. It should be able to at least take in $30 million in the US and will continue to roll out overseas through August. Add in the eventual VOD revenue – an A24 bread and butter – and this will be a nice little success.

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning had a very good fourth weekend as it dropped just 31% to $10.3 million. That puts the Paramount action sequel at $166.3 million domestically and $506.8 million worldwide – good numbers until you remember this film cost $400 million to produce. Final Reckoning has continued to pace decently ahead of Dead Reckoning and is looking likely to get close to $200 million or perhaps over by the end of its run. That budget means it won’t be profitable in theaters, but Paramount can call this enough of a win in that it’s at least a big improvement on Dead Reckoning’s numbers.

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina is not in secure financial shape, as its disappointing opening frame was followed up by a hefty drop. The action spinoff dropped 62% to $9.4 million in its sophomore weekend. That matches the fall for John Wick: Chapter 4, but that film opened to $73.8 million, not $24.5 million.

Ballerina is going to be another disappointment for Lionsgate, who have been going through it over the past year or so. It’s currently at $41.8 million domestically and $91.5 million worldwide – fine numbers out of context, but less impressive against a $90 million budget. It will probably not be profitable in theaters unless those international numbers hold up incredibly well, and the final US tally should be around $65 million to $70 million which would make it the lowest-grossing entry since John Wick, which only cost $30 million.

Karate Kid: Legends was down a decent 41% in its third weekend, taking in $5 million. The revival sequel is showing some much-needed legs as it’s up to $44.2 million domestically and $90 million worldwide against a $45 million budget. It’s looking like it will be slightly profitable for Sony Pictures but won’t be a hit and should finish out at around $55 million or so in the US.

Final Destination: Bloodlines brought in another $3.9 million in its fifth frame, a drop of just 40% for the second straight weekend. The horror sequel is now up to $130.6 million stateside and $271.7 million worldwide, making it a very successful revival of the series against a $50 million budget. It will end its domestic run at a touch under $140 million.

Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, dropped 51% in its second weekend of semi-wide release, scoring $3.1 million. Anderson doesn’t deliver box office bonanzas and Focus Features knows this; they were still probably hoping for a bit more than $12.8 million in the US and $26.9 million overseas so far, but it’s not the worst result. It is looking likely to end around $20 million

Mike Flanagan’s latest Stephen King adaptation opened a bit lower than expected as The Life of Chuck scored $2.1 million. That’s the lowest wide release start yet for Flanagan, beating his previous low of $12 million for Oculus in 2014.

Flanagan is a name with cache, as is Stephen King – but both deliver their biggest hits (Shawshank and Green Mile aside for the latter) in horror. Life of Chuck is not that, and Neon – also known as a go-to for horror – didn’t make it must-see from the marketing. There’s no word on Life of Chuck’s budget but this is a film that Neon expects to do well on streaming. It has $2.4 million total domestically and $2.8 million worldwide form a tiny smattering of markets. Stateside it may make it to $7 million.

Sinners had one more week in the top 10, down 48% % in its ninth frame with $1.5 million. The vampire film is a big hit with $275.5 million domestically and $361.2 million worldwide against a $90 million budget.

Next weekend will likely see a zombie takeover as 28 Years Later arrives, aiming at $45 million or so. Meanwhile, Disney’s Elio is expected to bring in around $30 million to $35 million in its start.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. How To Train Your Dragon – $83.7 million ($83.7 million total, $197.8 million WW)
2. Lilo & Sitch – $15.5 million ($366.4 million total, $858.4 million WW)
3. The Materialists – $12 million ($12 million total, $15.5 million WW)
4. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – $10.3 million ($166.3 million total, $506.8 million WW)
5. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – $9.4 million ($41.8 million total, $91.5 million WW)
6. Karate Kid: Legends – $5 million ($44.2 million total, $90 million WW)
7. Final Destination: Bloodlines – $3.9 million ($130.6 million total, $271.7 million WW)
8. The Phoenician Scheme – $3.1 million ($12.8 million total, $26.9 million WW)
9. The Life of Chuck – $2.1 million ($2.4 million total, $2.8 million WW)
10. Sinners – $1.5 million ($275.5 million total, $361.2 million WW)