Saturday Update: It’s been rare to report in early 2019, but the weekend’s top-line opener has beaten expectations as How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World landed with a strong $17.49 million opening day on Friday. That includes Thursday night’s $3 million, while excluding $2.5 million from Fandango screenings at 1,000 locations on February 2.
By comparison, the opening day more than doubles LEGO Movie 2 ($8.5 million), bests Hotel Transylvania 3 by 3.5 percent (despite that title opening mid-summer), and was just 5 percent behind How to Train Your Dragon 2 ($18.44 million) — which also had the benefit of a mid-summer opening nearly five years ago.
Universal’s projections this morning stand at $58.12 million (again, excluding February 2 earnings). Due to the considerable fan following of the franchise, we wouldn’t be entirely surprised if that’s a slightly bullish scenario and could reasonably see a debut closer to $55 million — but that is on the lower end of possibilities at this point given the strong reception to the franchise finale.
Moving down to second pace, Alita: Battle Angel added $3.14 million to begin its second weekend. With $51.8 million in the domestic bank, Fox projects an $11.325 million sophomore frame.
Fighting With My Family opened on target with forecasts as it posted $2.55 million on Friday in its wide expansion to 2,711 locations. That’s 31 percent ahead of the first day take by Eddie the Eagle ($1.94 million). A weekend north of $7 million appears likely.
Isn’t It Romantic tacked on another $2.225 million yesterday for an updated cume of $28.5 million, while LEGO Movie 2 capped the top five with $2.185 million and an updated tally of $75.8 million.
Early weekend estimates below (all Fox titles are official studio projections). Updated estimates from all studios to follow on Sunday.
Early Weekend Estimates (Domestic)
FRI, FEB. 22 – SUN, FEB. 24
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World | $58,120,000 | — | 4,259 | — | $13,646 | $60,620,000 | 4 | Universal / DreamWorks Animation |
| 2 | Alita: Battle Angel | $11,325,000 | -60% | 3,802 | 12 | $2,979 | $60,006,068 | 2 | 20th Century Fox |
| 3 | The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part | $10,200,000 | -51% | 3,833 | -470 | $2,661 | $83,804,039 | 5 | Warner Bros. |
| 4 | Fighting With My Family | $7,400,000 | 5232% | 2,711 | 2707 | $2,730 | $7,615,021 | 2 | MGM |
| 5 | Isn’t It Romantic | $7,000,000 | -51% | 3,444 | 0 | $2,033 | $33,258,742 | 2 | Warner Bros. |
| 6 | What Men Want | $4,700,000 | -56% | 2,389 | -523 | $1,967 | $44,561,066 | 3 | Paramount |
| 7 | Happy Death Day 2U | $4,600,000 | -52% | 3,212 | 5 | $1,432 | $21,222,880 | 2 | Universal Pictures |
| 8 | The Upside | $3,500,000 | -36% | 2,148 | -633 | $1,629 | $100,029,409 | 7 | STX Entertainment |
| 9 | Cold Pursuit | $3,100,000 | -48% | 2,320 | -310 | $1,336 | $26,885,567 | 3 | Lionsgate / Summit |
| 10 | Green Book | $2,100,000 | -27% | 1,253 | -365 | $1,676 | $69,617,686 | 15 | Universal Pictures |
| 11 | Glass | $1,800,000 | -54% | 1,446 | -1003 | $1,245 | $107,965,055 | 6 | Universal |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Run The Race | $2,200,000 | — | 853 | — | $2,579 | $2,200,000 | 1 | Roadside Attractions |
| 2 | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse | $930,000 | -54% | 743 | -464 | $1,252 | $184,970,025 | 11 | Sony / Columbia |
| 3 | Total Dhamaal | $835,000 | — | 202 | — | $4,134 | $835,000 | 1 | FIP |
| 4 | Aquaman | $715,000 | -61% | 741 | -523 | $965 | $332,890,547 | 11 | Warner Bros. |
| 5 | The Favourite | $645,000 | 0% | 288 | -36 | $2,240 | $32,212,728 | 14 | Fox Searchlight |
| 6 | A Star is Born | $620,000 | -21% | 745 | -98 | $832 | $210,853,198 | 21 | Warner Bros. |
| 7 | Bohemian Rhapsody | $600,000 | -39% | 424 | -138 | $1,415 | $213,093,500 | 17 | 20th Century Fox |
| 8 | Vice | $570,000 | -1% | 702 | 0 | $812 | $47,052,650 | 9 | Annapurna |
| 9 | They Shall Not Grow Old | $495,000 | -51% | 448 | -178 | $1,105 | $16,354,374 | 10 | Warner Bros. |
| 10 | Ralph Breaks the Internet | $410,000 | -59% | 406 | -948 | $1,010 | $199,902,967 | 14 | Disney |
| 11 | Miss Bala | $330,000 | -65% | 515 | -657 | $641 | $14,594,070 | 4 | Sony Pictures |
| 12 | A Dog’s Way Home | $245,000 | -72% | 417 | -463 | $588 | $41,153,272 | 7 | Sony Pictures |
| 13 | Mary Poppins Returns | $200,000 | -52% | 234 | -111 | $855 | $170,939,253 | 10 | Disney |
| 14 | Bumblebee | $200,000 | -55% | 228 | -356 | $877 | $126,911,045 | 10 | Paramount Pictures |
| 15 | Escape Room | $180,000 | -70% | 264 | -371 | $682 | $56,112,826 | 8 | Sony Pictures |
| 16 | If Beale Street Could Talk | $160,000 | -27% | 127 | -38 | $1,260 | $14,441,900 | 11 | Annapurna |
===
Friday Report: Universal’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World scored a strong $3 million start from Thursday night shows beginning at 6pm in approximately 3,200 theaters. That excludes $2.5 million earned from Fandango’s early screenings held on Saturday, February 2.
Last night’s start by itself compares very favorably with similar titles, doubling that of The LEGO Movie 2 ($1.5 million, excluding $600K from pre-Thursday shows), 15 percent ahead of Hotel Transylvania 3 ($2.6 million), 36 percent ahead of The LEGO Batman Movie ($2.2 million), and 50 percent ahead of How to Train Your Dragon 2 ($2.0 million).
The animated trilogy-capper’s international gross stands at $185 million from 49 markets through Thursday. Nine new markets are slated to open this weekend.
Meanwhile, Fighting With My Family began its wide expansion in positive fashion last night with $450K. That comes in significantly ahead of Eddie the Eagle‘s $180K Thursday night start on the same weekend three years ago.
Share this post