We finally have a film that exceeded box office tracking and breathed some life back into the box office. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World took the number one spot this weekend and debuted with the best opening of the franchise.
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World grossed $55.5 million and, in the process, scores the biggest opening weekend of the year so far. The opening is also the largest debut of the franchise, topping the $49.4 million opening of How to Train Your Dragon 2 in 2014. The film’s overall domestic performance so far totals over $58 million once you include the $2.5 million it brought in from an exclusive Fandango event earlier this month. The Hidden World was well-received by critics and scored an “A” CinemaScore so legs should be pretty strong moving forward. Internationally, after opening in just two markets six weeks ago, the film entered its seventh weekend in international release this weekend and is now playing in 53 territories including nine new markets this weekend. Leading the weekend charge was a #1 opening in Russia with $11.2 million followed by Spain where it also debuted atop the charts with an estimated $2.8 million. The film’s top market is the UK where it has brought in over $20 million so far. Next weekend it continues its rollout with a March 1 debut in China followed by an August 23 release in Japan. The film has so far brought in $216.9 million overseas for a global tally that is currently just shy of $275 million.
Dropping to second is Alita: Battle Angel with $12 million. That’s a steep drop of 57.9% which means that its domestic life won’t be too much longer. The film has grossed $60.6 million at the domestic box office and is a world away from its reported $170 million budget, with some saying the price tag is much higher than that. Internationally the film faired a bit better, debuting in China with an estimated $62.2 million for a #1 finish and contributing a significant portion of its overall $92.4 million overseas weekend. At this point, Alita has brought in over $202 million internationally for a global gross totaling more than $263 million. Remember, it needs to make $500-550 million worldwide to break even and at this pace, it may not reach that tally.
Falling to third is The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part with $10 million. The film dropped 51.9% and was clearly a victim of the release of How to Train Your Dragon 3, which likely took some of its audience. The film has grossed $83.6 million to date and internationally, the film is also struggling, adding just $10.3 million from 73 markets this weekend for an international total that now stands at $53 million. Overall the global tally stands at $136.6 million with Australia remaining the lone market yet to release, where the film will debut on March 21.
Fighting With My Family debuted in fourth place with $8 million for its first weekend of wide release. The performance is pretty much in line with where tracking and it’s possible that good word of mouth can make it a modest hit. Reviews are also on its side, with most critics praising the indie wrestling film.
Rounding out the top five is Isn’t It Romantic with $7.5 million. The film dropped 47.3% from last weekend which represents the best drop of last week’s openers (Happy Death Day 2U was close behind with a 47.5% drop). Isn’t It Romantic brings its domestic total to $33.7 million and it’s going to be a modest hit by the time it’s all said and done.
Check out the full top ten results below:
| Film | Total | % Change | Gross to Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Onward | $10,601,952 | -72.9% | $60.3 |
| Bloodshot | $9,176,695 | NEW | $9.17 |
| I Still Believe | $9,103,614 | NEW | $9.10 |
| The Invisible Man | $5,890,805 | -61.1% | $64.3 |
| The Hunt | $5,304,455 | NEW | $5.3 |
| Sonic the Hedgehog | $2,522,584 | -67.3% | $145.7 |
| The Way Back | $2,356,115 | -71.2% | $13.3 |
| The Call of the Wild | $2,226,720 | -67.1% | $62 |
| Emma. | $1,295,215 | -73% | $9.9 |
| Bad Boys for Life | $1,102,208 | -63.5% | $204.2 |
