Key Takeaways
Total 3-Day Weekend Gross:
$151,708,921 | +25.3% Last Week / -29.1% Weekend 24, 2024
Universal has officially horned in on Disney’s territory with a live-action remake that, while no rival to Lilo & Stitch in the summer derby, announces DreamWorks properties as the next frontier in a realm the Mouse House has held a monopoly on. A24’s Materialists also tapped into the romantic comedy date night audience that no other studio has catered to theatrically this year. We’re down year-over-year because the Dragon was no match for the juggernaut that was last year’s Inside Out 2, although overall BO was up from last week as the holdovers took a backseat to some decent new titles.
- Top Title: How to Train Your Dragon (Universal Pictures) | $83.7M / 4,356 Screens / $19,215 PSA | Week 1
- Top Opener: How to Train Your Dragon (Universal Pictures) | $83.7M / 4,356 Screens / $19,215 PSA | Week 1
- Best PSA: How to Train Your Dragon (Universal Pictures) | $83.7M / 4,356 Screens / $19,215 PSA | Week 1
Highlights From the Weekend
1. How to Train Your Dragon
Universal Pictures | NEW
$83.7M Domestic Opening Weekend | $197.8M Global Total
Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation’s live-action redo of How to Train Your Dragon retained the same director and design principal as the animated trilogy. This IP familiarity has paid off in an $83.7M domestic opening on 4,356 screens for a $19,215 PSA to nab the top spot, right in the ballpark of our panel’s prediction range. That’s not just a lifetime best for the franchise, but the third biggest opening ever for a DreamWorks Animation property behind only Shrek the Third ($121.6M) and Shrek 2 ($108M). It’s also in the top tier compared to Disney’s live-action re-imaginings behind Aladdin ($91.5M opening).
Here’s how the 3-Day looked, including $11.1M in Thursday previews…
- Friday – $35.58M
- Saturday – $26.46M
- Sunday – $21.66M
Let’s look at how the remake’s opening compares to its animated brethren…
- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) – $55M opening/$520.97M WW
- How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) – $49.45M opening/$614.58M WW
- How to Train Your Dragon (2010) – $43.7M opening/$495.1M WW
Considering the reported budget for the new one is in the same ballpark as The Hidden World, the live-action gambit has clearly opened up a property with a clear box office ceiling to an expanded audience. Critical was fresh at 77% RT, while the audience score was 98% and the film received an “A” CinemaScore. Ticket buyers leaned female at 58%, while the age quadrants were split fairly even with under-12’s taking the biggest slice of the pie at 34% along with 18-34’s at 31% and 35-55+ at 28%. Teens were the smallest grouping at 8%.
Here’s how demographics looked…
- Caucasian – 49%
- Hispanic – 21%
- Asian – 14%
- African American – 9%
- Natam/Other – 7%
While the studio was eyeing a $200M+ global opening on Saturday, the final estimate fell just under that at $197.8M. The international take was $114.1M from 61,500 screens across 81 territories, with Mexico the healthiest market at $14M. The How to Train Your Dragon franchise has traditionally done multiples overseas, with the third animated movie earning 3.25X domestic in its international play. The global IMAX take was $16.1M, with $8.1M of that coming from North America… not as stellar as this summer’s Mission: Impossible, which can now boast a franchise-best $73.3M WW from the large format.
How to Train Your Dragon – Opening Weekend
Top Ten Overseas Markets
1. Mexico | $14.04M
2. UK & Ireland | $11.39M
3. China | $11.16M
4. Brazil | $7.77M
5. Korea | $7.39M
6. France | $5.12M
7. Australia | $4.41M
8. Spain | $4.34M
9. Germany | $4M
10. Italy | $3.34M
3. Materialists
A24 | NEW
$12M Domestic Opening Weekend
A24 has reason to believe they’ have’ve got a counter-programming hit on their hands with the R-rated romantic comedy Materialists, which pulled in an estimated $12M from 2844 screens for a $4,220 PSA to land at #3 on the charts. The movie gave the mini-major its biggest opening of the year while nearly equaling the current 6-week total of their summer sleeper Friendship ($15.68M).
Here’s how the 3-Day looked…
- Friday – $5.1M
- Saturday – $3.86M
- Sunday – $3M
Driving business for director Celine Song’s class-conscious film is the central triangle of Dakota Johnson, Chris Evans, and Pedro Pascal… a power trio if there ever was one. The once-and-future Marvel stars helped the film earn solid reviews with 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, although the audience rating was 69% alongside a “B-” CinemaScore. That so-so audience reaction could be a reaction against the artier aspects the movie, a staple of the A24 brand. This is also some solid big screen visibility for Pascal before he plays his first blockbuster lead in Marvel Studios’ biggest 2025 bet Fantastic Four: First Steps in July.
Giving what would normally be a specialty movie a wide summer launch was a brilliant stroke by A24 when you factor the utter drought of romances on the big screen this year. The only one of note was limited release The Wedding Banquet ($2M total). While this genre may primarily be the domain of Netflix now, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy absolutely destroyed overseas ($129.48M) at the same time Anora won Best Picture and took home $59.3M. Apparently the $218.9M WW gross of Anyone But You didn’t register with studios.
Other Notable Performances
Disney’s Lilo & Stitch passed $858.4M globally while dropping to #2 domestically with a solid $15.5M weekend take. It has yet to reach the heights of 2016’s The Jungle Book ($951.8M WW) or Alice in Wonderland ($1,025B WW) but it could and in all likelihood will. How to Train Your Dragon was not as big of an assassin as feared, with Lilo only dropping -52% this frame. This is all good news for Disney, especially when it now appears that Marvel’s Thunderbolts is tapping out under its estimated break-even of $425M globally ($377.8M).
Next Weekend
Oscar-winning filmmaker Danny Boyle returns to the zombie genre he helped revive 23 years ago with the shocker 28 Years Later, starring Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Meanwhile, the summer children’s movie bonanza continues as Pixar launches its original Elio, which follows the title space fanatic kid who goes on a real intergalactic adventure. Could be The Last Starfighter for tykes?
Sunday Studio Estimates | Weekend 24 – 2025
Total 3-Day Domestic Gross: $151,708,921| (+__% vs 2024)
| Title | Weekend Estimate | % Change | Locations | Location Change | PSA | Domestic Total | Week | Distributor |
| How to Train Your Dragon | $83,700,000 | 4,356 | $19,215 | 83,700,000 | 1 | Universal | ||
| Lilo & Stitch | $15,500,000 | -52% | 3,675 | -510 | $4,218 | 366,371,809 | 4 | Walt Disney |
| Materialists | $12,000,424 | 2,844 | $4,220 | 12,000,424 | 1 | A24 | ||
| Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning | $10,300,000 | -31% | 2,942 | -554 | $3,501 | 166,316,000 | 4 | Paramount Pi… |
| From the World of John Wick: Ballerina | $9,400,000 | -62% | 3,409 | n/c | $2,757 | 41,832,000 | 2 | Lionsgate |
| Karate Kid: Legends | $5,000,000 | -42% | 3,008 | -851 | $1,662 | 44,153,000 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| Final Destination: Bloodlines | $3,900,000 | -40% | 2,138 | -729 | $1,824 | 130,648,000 | 5 | Warner Bros. |
| The Phoenician Scheme | $3,050,000 | -51% | 1,731 | 53 | $1,762 | 12,777,000 | 3 | Focus Features |
| The Life of Chuck | $2,144,250 | 855% | 1,072 | +1,056 | $2,000 | 2,441,423 | 2 | Neon |
| Sinners | $1,470,000 | -48% | 951 | -567 | $1,546 | 275,484,000 | 9 | Warner Bros. |
| Bring Her Back | $1,415,578 | -60% | 1,250 | -1,175 | $1,132 | 17,654,275 | 3 | A24 |
| Thunderbolts* | $1,200,000 | -50% | 910 | -1,045 | $1,319 | 188,752,653 | 7 | Walt Disney |
| Dan Da Dan: Evil Eye | $673,174 | -79% | 820 | -265 | $821 | 5,065,415 | 2 | GKIDS |
| The Last Rodeo | $575,287 | -46% | 617 | -618 | $932 | 14,205,804 | 4 | Angel Studios |
| Friendship | $315,956 | -71% | 355 | -717 | $890 | 15,686,382 | 6 | A24 |
| Tatami | $16,200 | 1 | $16,200 | 16,200 | 1 | XYZ Films | ||
| Vulcanizadora | $261 | -62% | 1 | -1 | $261 | 25,369 | 7 | Oscilloscope… |
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