How to Train Your Dragon took flight at the box office this weekend, proving that some remakes still have teeth. The Universal live-action adaptation of the animated franchise soared to a strong $83 million debut in North American theaters, according to Comscore estimates Sunday. The film, directed by franchise veteran Dean DeBlois, follows the friendship between a young Viking named Hiccup (Mason Thames) and a dragon called Toothless. The reboot easily outpaced 2019's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which opened with $55 million, the AP reports.
The film claimed the No. 1 spot ahead of Disney's Lilo and Stitch, which slipped to second place after topping the charts for three weekends. That hybrid live-action remake added another $15 million, pushing its domestic total past $386.3 million. Materialists, a modern-day New York love story starring Dakota Johnson, Pedro Pascal, and Chris Evans, rounded out the top three films of the week with a $12 million debut. The romantic dramedy features Johnson as a savvy matchmaker caught between two suitors: a broke, struggling actor who happens to be her ex, and a wealthy "unicorn" who seems too good to be true.
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
- How to Train Your Dragon, $83.7 million.
- Lilo and Stitch, $15.5 million.
- Materialists, $12 million.
- Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, $10.3 million.
- From the World of John Wick: Ballerina, $9.4 million.
- Karate Kid: Legends, $5 million.
- Final Destination: Bloodlines, $3.9 million.
- The Phoenician Scheme, $3 million.
- The Life of Chuck, $2.1 million.
- Sinners, $1.4 million.
(More
box office stories.)