Weekend Recap: Dragon-training proves lucrative

Hullo mah wee drehgons! Dreamworks Animation produced a No. 1 hit this weekend although I must say, not nearly as well as I would’ve expected based on the reviews. Positive word of mouth, however, should keep How to Train Your Dragon going strong throughout the week and onto next weekend.

Dreamworks’ last spring effort was Monsters vs. Aliens which earned nearly $60 million it’s opening weekend to the $43.7 of “Dragon.” Is it the subject matter? Appeal to girls? Or was the recent rise in 3D ticket prices not as coincidental? It’s possible we might be seeing some backlash toward 3D movies.

1. How to Train Your Dragon – $43.7 (weekend) … $43.7 (gross)
2. Alice in Wonderland – $17.7 M … $293.5 M
3. Hot Tub Time Machine – $14 M … $14 M
4. The Bounty Hunter – $12 M … $38.4 M
5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid – $10.1 M … $35.8 M
6. She’s Out of My League – $3.5 M … $25.5
7. Green Zone – $3.3 M … $30.4 M
8. Shutter Island – $3.2 M … $120.6 M
9. Repo Men – $3 M .. $11.3 M
10. Our Family Wedding – $2.3 M … $16.9 M

Hot Tub Time Machine had a rough go of it with only $14 M, but it should reach $36 M estimated budget when all is said and done. Diary of a Wimpy Kid got passed up by The Bounty Hunter, proving there was not enough room for three “family” movies this weekend. “Alice” also fell by 50 percent.

Overall the box office was up 2.2 percent this week. It sets things up for a bigger jump next week rather than a gradual one as Clash of the Titans hits theaters.