One 3D film replaced another at the top of the North American box office as
the animated adventure
How
To Train Your Dragon flew into the number one spot ending the three-week
reign of
Alice in Wonderland which still managed to be strong enough to finish in
second place. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, Dragon bowed to an estimated
$43.3M from 4,055 theaters for a sizzling $10,678 average per location.
The Paramount release scored the eighth biggest opening ever in the month of
March, aided in part by higher 3D ticket prices, and came in very close to the
$45M debut of 2008’s
Horton Hears a Who
which was another high-profile toon released a week before the Easter holiday in
March. That film had much more starpower with the voices of Jim Carrey and Steve
Carell and was based on a story from Dr. Seuss, a bigger brand name in the kids
world.
How
To Train Your Dragon enjoyed higher ticket prices, but its source
material is less known and there are no A-list comedians doing voices. Instead,
the Viking pic has Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, and Craig
Ferguson.[rtimage]MapID=1194522&MapTypeID=2&photo=25&legacy=1[/rtimage]The road
ahead seems promising for Dragon. Reviews were among the best of any film
this year and the CinemaScore grade from opening day moviegoers was an
encouraging A. On top of that, next weekend is Easter so many schools across the
country will be closed either this week or next so the first 17 days should
bring a robust gross for the $165M-budgeted DreamWorks pic. The final domestic
gross could match the budget and overseas potential is solid. Studio research
showed broad appeal with 51% of the crowd being over 25 and 55% being female.
With the overwhelming success of 3D films, it was no easy task to secure the
necessary screens for Dragon but Paramount did lock in 2,178 locations
that offered the extra dimension including 185 IMAX 3D venues which charge even
more for tickets ($19.50 in New York City). Alice in Wonderland has been
on fire at the 3D box office and exhibitors still wanted to keep that offering
and even Avatar in its 15th weekend drew business. These megahits are now
the two highest-grossing 3D films ever. But Dragon found the space and grossed
as much as the next three films on the chart combined. The box office has now
been led by a 3D film over 11 of the past 15 weekends and is likely to extend
that streak next weekend with the launch of Clash of the Titans which
will begin its 3D run this Thursday night at 8pm ahead of Good Friday.
More PG-rated 3D fun was had in second place with Alice in Wonderland
which dropped a spot after three weeks at number one. The Johnny Depp
blockbuster grossed an estimated $17.3M and suffered a sizable 49% drop thanks
to the new competition from Dragon for 3D screens and audience attention.
Alice‘s total take climbed to a stellar $293.1M in 24 days as the film
jumped up to number 35 on the list of top all-time domestic blockbusters sitting
between a pair of Disney hits, 1999’s
The Sixth Sense
($293.5M) and last summer’s Pixar smash
Up ($293M). By Saturday,
Wonderland will shatter the $300M mark.[rtimage]MapID=1211803&MapTypeID=2&photo=33&legacy=1[/rtimage]Adult
men looking for some raunchy humor powered the new comedy
Hot Tub Time
Machine into third place with an opening weekend take of $13.7M,
according to estimates. The MGM release about four grown men who time-travel
back to 1986 averaged a decent $4,956 per location from 2,754 theaters – not
bad, but not too impressive either. Studio research showed that 58% of the
audience was male and 58% was over 25. The CinemaScore grade was only a B so
word-of-mouth going forward will not be too strong.
The more female-skewing adult audience got its laughs from
The Bounty
Hunter which held up very well dipping only 40% to an estimated $12.4M
in its second round. The Sony release has captured $38.8M in ten days and should
finish with a solid $65-70M.
Following a powerful debut, Fox’s kidpic
Diary of a Wimpy
Kid took a tumble in its sophomore frame falling 55% to an estimated
$10M pushing the ten-day cume to $35.8M. It was the largest drop in the top ten
and competition from Dragon and a still-strong Alice factored into the decline.
Wimpy looks to reach roughly $55M by the end of its run.
The rest of the top ten was filled with holdovers taking small $2-4M slices of
the pie. Paramount’s comedy
She’s Out of My
League dropped only 40% to an estimated $3.5M for a $25.6M sum. The Matt
Damon war thriller
Green Zone
grossed an estimated $3.4M, down 45%, to a $30.4M total for Universal. Faring
much better this spring was
Shutter Island
which followed in eighth dipping only 33% to an estimated $3.2M. Paramount
has banked $120.6M to date.http://nocache.in.rottentomatoes.com/m/hot_tub_time_machine/pictures/8.php#highlighted_pictureThe
sci-fi flop Repo
Men tumbled 50% in its second frame to an estimated $3M and a dismal
$11.3M over ten days for Universal. Fox Searchlight’s comedy
Our Family Wedding
rounded out the top ten with an estimated $2.2M, down 41%, for a cume of $16.8M.
Following its historic fourteen-week run in the top ten,
Avatar dropped to
eleventh place with an estimated $2M. With 3D screens being snatched up by
competitors, the Pandora flick fell by a sharp 50% boosting the record domestic
tally to $740.4M. Fox should end this run with $745-750M although more could be
added later in the year since a re-release is being discussed for late summer or
fall.[rtimage]MapID=1194501&MapTypeID=2&photo=35&legacy=1[/rtimage]The top ten
films grossed an estimated $111.9M which was down 18% from last year when
Monsters vs.
Aliens opened in the top spot with $59.3M; but up 31% from 2008 when
21 debuted at
number one with $24.1M.
