How To Train Your Dragon 3 Maintains Top Spot, A Madea Family Funeral Strong In Second

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World held the power position at the weekend box office but it was initially a close race between the children’s family and A Madea Family Funeral, which exceeded box office tracking and showed that moviegoers love Madea.

How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World grossed $30 million over the weekend, representing a week-to-week drop of 45.4%. That drop is a bit steep considering how it overperformed the weekend before but it actually leveled off quite well due to a surge of business on Saturday. A Madea Family Funeral actually outgrossed it on Friday and the drop looked to be in the 50% range but the family rush on Saturday reversed its fortunes. The film has grossed $97.6 million so far at the domestic box office and the drop ensures it won’t reach the heights of the original ($217.5 million) but the $177 million of the second film is still attainable if they next drops aren’t too severe. Internationally, Hidden World added $52 million this weekend, the bulk of which came from its debut in China where it racked up an estimated $33.4 million. The film’s international total now stands at $277.7 million for a worldwide gross that now tops $375 million. The film still has eight markets left to release, the last of which being Japan on August 23.

Debuting above expectations in second is A Madea Family Funeral which grossed $27 million. The film was tracking at $22 million on the high end of expectations so this result is a win for Tyler Perry and Lionsgate. This is, allegedly, the last time the Madea character will appear on film so this aspect likely got the target audience to come to the theater. These films usually drop like a ton of bricks after the opening weekend but there is some encouraging news. The film scored an “A-” CinemaScore and the film actually improved its gross from Friday to Saturday which is always a good sign. This was made on the cheap and is already a hit so whatever comes next is just pure profit.

Falling to third is Alita: Battle Angel with $7.2 million. The film dropped 41.5% and continues to struggle a bit in the states. On the domestic front, the film has grossed $72.4 million to date which is a far cry from its $170 million budget (allegedly way more according to some sources). What’s easing the pain a bit is its international performance. The film added another $40.4 million internationally this weekend from 81 markets for an overseas gross that now totals $278.2 million, giving the film a global tally that now tops $350 million. Is this enough for a sequel? I really don’t know. I’m still reading it needs at least $500 million worldwide to break even and I just don’t see that happening but I’d never say never. The international box office has been enough to greenlight sequels to films that didn’t exactly live up to expectations domestically.

Dropping to fourth is The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part which grossed $6.6 million. That’s a drop of 31.8% and I’m still scratching my head as to why this film underperformed so much. I guess it’s LEGO Movie fatigue but the good reviews were there to make this one work and it’s just not. With a gross of $91.6 million to date, it’s trailing behind the first film and The LEGO Batman Movie at this point of their releases. It’s still a lock for $100 million but there is a lot of money left on the table here.  The film added another $6.1 million internationally this weekend for an international total that now is over $61 million and a worldwide tally that stands at $152.8 million.

Rounding out the top five is Fighting with My Family which grossed $4.6 million. The critically acclaimed wrestling film dropped 40.3% which indicates it’s not really registering outside of those truly interested in the story but I can see the film achieving some kind of cult status after its theatrical run. The film has grossed $14.9 million to date.

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