Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon easily took the weekend box office crown with an estimated $43.3 million, but the total was below many projections. Still with many kids off from school this week or next, prospects for the pricy ($165 million to produce) 3D Dragon movie remain solid. The film scored a solid “A” CinemaScore from an audience that was 51% over 25 and 55% female.
Dragon received 65% of its take from 3D screens. Its dollar total was inflated (and the number of admissions possibly depressed) by the fact that some theater chains raised their ticket prices by as much as 8%. Seeing a 3D movie at an IMAX theater in
| Weekend Box Office (Studio Estimates): March 26-28, 2010 | |||||
|
| Film | Wknd Gross | Screens | Avg./Screen | Total Gross |
| 1 | How to Train Your Dragon | $43,300,000 | 4,055 | $10,678 | $43,300,000 |
| 2 | Alice in Wonderland (2010) | $17,300,000 | 3,384 | $5,112 | $293,100,000 |
| 3 | Hot Tub Time Machine | $13,650,000 | 2,754 | $4,956 | $13,650,000 |
| 4 | The Bounty Hunter | $12,400,000 | 3,074 | $4,034 | $38,812,000 |
| 5 | Diary of a Wimpy Kid | $10,000,000 | 3,083 | $3,244 | $35,776,000 |
| 6 | She's Out of My League | $3,526,000 | 2,432 | $1,450 | $25,601,000 |
| 7 | Green Zone | $3,350,000 | 2,557 | $1,310 | $30,440,000 |
| 8 | Shutter Island | $3,175,000 | 2,123 | $1,496 | $120,600,000 |
| 9 | Repo Men | $3,048,000 | 2,519 | $1,210 | $11,342,000 |
| 10 | Our Family Wedding | $2,200,000 | 1,132 | $1,943 | $16,785,000 |
The number of 3D screens is still not large enough to take care of all of the demand. Alice in Wonderland, which earned a solid $17.3 million during its fourth weekend in theaters, is still performing well in 3D, as is, to a less extent, Avatar, which finally dropped out of the top 10 in its 15th week, but still earned over $2 million. Next weekend Warner Bros.’ Clash of the Titans will put even more demand on the available supply of 3D screens. A 3D movie has topped the box office charts on 11 out of the past 15 weekends, and with the success of Alice and now Dragon, the reign of 3D movies shows no sign of abating.
Sometime this week, Alice in Wonderland will become the first film of 2010 to pass the $300 million mark.
The other new wide release of the week, the back-to-the-80s romp, Hot Tub Time Machine debuted in third place with an estimated $13.6 million. The raunchy comedy managed only an average “B” CinemaScore from its older (65% over 25), predominantly male (58%) audience.
The poorly reviewed battle of the sexes comedy Bounty Hunter continues to play well with audiences. It finished a close fourth with an estimated $12.4 million, a drop of just 40% in its second weekend. In fifth place Diary of a Wimpy Kid fell nearly 55%, while earning an estimated $10 million in its second weekend. Wimpy Kid was definitely hurt by the arrival of How to Train Your Dragon, which dominated the "kid" demo this weekend.
The total box office for the top ten films was down 18% compared with the same weekend last year when Dreamworks’ Monsters vs. Aliens debuted with $59.3 million.
