Dragon 3 managed the best opening in franchise history (even accounting for inflation). The first film in the franchise debuted with $43.7 million in 2010, followed by Dragon 2, which bowed with $49.9 million in 2014. All three films were beloved by critics and scored solid “A” CinemaScores from audiences, but the first two films appeared to underperform, given their critical accolades and audience grades. Why the different outcomes at the box office? Perhaps it was timing. The first HTTYD film opened in late March, and faced little direct competition, but the second (and arguably the best film in the trilogy) debuted in mid-June and was definitely held down by the heavy competition. With HTTYD 3 opening during a relative fallow period at the box office, conditions could be ripe for a franchise-best run, though the animated Wonder Park will open in 3 weeks.
HTTYD 3 is also the first film in the trilogy to attract more males than females (51%, versus 45% for the first film, and 47% for the second), and it also attracted the youngest audience so far with 6!% of the crowd under 25 (versus 49% and 56% for its predecessors). Like the first two films in the franchise, HTTYD 3 received an “A” CinemaScore, which bodes well for the film’s North American box office prospects.
HTTYD 3 opened overseas several weeks ago and has earned $216.9 million outside of North American for a current global cumulative of $275 million—and the film has yet to open in the world’s second biggest market (China), or in Japan. With a domestic gross that could reach $200 million, HTTYD 3 is a reminder that Dreamworks Animation remains a major player in the field—and the fact that HTTYD 3 was made for $129 million (the lowest cost of any film in the franchise, with the first film costing $165 million and the second $145 million) means that Dreamworks Animation and its new distribution partner Universal, have generated what could become 2019’s first big hit.
|
Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): February 22-24, 2019 |
||||||
|
Film |
Weekend Gross |
Screens |
Avg./Screen |
Total Gross |
Wk# |
|
|
1 |
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World |
$55,527,000 |
4,259 |
$13,038 |
$58,027,000 |
1 |
|
2 |
Alita: Battle Angel |
$12,000,000 |
3,802 |
$3,156 |
$60,681,068 |
2 |
|
3 |
The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part |
$10,015,000 |
3,833 |
$2,613 |
$83,619,039 |
3 |
|
4 |
Fighting with My Family |
$8,012,000 |
2,711 |
$2,955 |
$8,227,021 |
2 |
|
5 |
Isn't It Romantic |
$7,510,000 |
3,444 |
$2,181 |
$33,768,742 |
2 |
|
6 |
What Men Want |
$5,200,000 |
2,389 |
$2,177 |
$45,061,066 |
3 |
|
7 |
Happy Death Day 2U |
$4,988,000 |
3,212 |
$1,553 |
$21,611,880 |
2 |
|
8 |
Cold Pursuit |
$3,300,000 |
2,320 |
$1,422 |
$27,085,567 |
3 |
|
9 |
The Upside |
$3,210,000 |
2,148 |
$1,494 |
$99,749,409 |
7 |
|
10 |
Run the Race |
$2,273,050 |
853 |
$2,665 |
$2,273,050 |
1 |
The James Cameron-produced, Robert Rodriguez-directed Alita: Battle Angel tumbled back to Earth after her better-than-expected debut last weekend. While a 58% drop in the second weekend is normal for blockbusters that open above $100 million, it’s not good for an expensive movie that opened with just $28.5 million.
The only good news on the Alita front concerns the film’s opening in China where it earned $62.2 million, which is more than the film’s 10-day total here in North America (where the studio gets to keep more than twice as big a percentage of the ticket price than it does in China). So far Alita, which cost $170 million just to produce (and millions more to market), has earned $263.4 million, but it will have to bring in $500-$550 million just to break even, so the viability of this potential franchise remains very much in doubt.
The animated LEGO Movie 2 slipped 51.9% in its third frame, earning $10 million to drive its domestic total to $83.6 million. Overseas the film is doing even worse, earning just $53 million so far, even though it has opened in every major territory save for Australia. LEGO Movie 2’ has to be seen as a major disappointment for Warner Bros. Animation, which inexpicably released two spin-offs before issuing a sequel to the highly successful first LEGO Movie.
The Dwayne Johnson-produced wrestling biopic Fighting With My Family expanded from 4 theaters to 2,711, and finished fourth, earning an estimated $8 million. While this is OK for a small film, it is yet to be seen if this well-reviewed film can appeal to folks who aren’t fans of professional wrestling.
The rest of the films in the top 10 performed more or less as expected. Mention should be made of the Kevin Hart/Bryan Cranston dramedy The Upside, which finished its seventh week in theaters in ninth place, and which is poised to become only the second 2019 film to earn over $100 million at some point early in the week.
Coming in at #10 was another new film, the Tim Tebow-produced Christian drama Run the Race, which bowed in 853 theaters and earned $2.3 million for a modest $2,655 per theater average, attracting a crowd that skewed female (53%) and older (77% over 25).
Next weekend we will see what effect, if any, this evening’s Academy Awards will have on movie-going as two new releases, Neil Jordan’s stylish horror/thriller Greta debuts in 2,000 theaters, and Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral bows in 2,350 venues.
