- How to Train Your Dragon– $37M/$160.4M
Dreamworks Animation and Universal’s live-action How to Train Your Dragon held on to the top spot with $37M, giving it $160M domestically and $358M worldwide. The film is a big hit, even if it’s not going to do Lilo & Stitch or A Minecraft Movie numbers in the family-friendly space.
2. 28 Years Later (review)- $30M
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s long-awaited sequel 28 Years Later opened strong with $30M. That’s enough to give Boyle the biggest opening weekend of his career. The first chapter in a trilogy led by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, and Alfie Williams, the film has $60M worldwide and puts it on a path to surpass the two prior films. 28 Days Later ended its run with $82M, while 28 Weeks Later ended at just $65M. Critically, the film has won over critics with 89% at RT, while audiences were a bit less favorable at 65%, perhaps because it’s less of a horror movie than expected.
3. Elio (review)- $21M
It was all bad news for Pixar as its latest, the space-faring adventure Elio, opened at just $21M, the lowest ever in its history. Ouch. That puts it in the ballpark of Pixar’s 2023 film, Elemental, which struggled out of the gate with $29.6M, but solid word of mouth boosted it to $496M worldwide by the end of its run. It’s doubtful that Elio will get the same treatment, even though its doing well on RT with 84% from critics and 91% from audiences.
4. Lilo & Stitch– $9.7M/$386.7M
5. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning– $6.5M/$178.3M
6. Materialists– $5.8M/$23.9M
7. Ballerina– $4.5M/$51.1M
8. Karate Kid: Legends– $2.4M/$49.4M
9. Final Destination Bloodlines– $1.8M/$134.8M
10. Kuberaa– $1.7M
Also…the Rebel Wilson/Anna Camp action-comedy Bride Hard had awful reviews on its way to just $932K. So much for that Pitch Perfect reunion!
