Weekend Box Office: Trained Dragons Fly High

After a solid three weeks at number one Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland finally fell to newcomer How To Train Your Dragon. Although it easily took the top spot with $43 million, it’s a disappointing start for a promising movie with a $165 million budget to win back. With just over $8 million in international sales, DreamWork’s latest animated adventure has a tough climb ahead.

Quirky comedy Hot Tub Time Machine soaked up a simple $13 million for third place. Not a substantial amount, it is the biggest opening for director Steve Pink (Accepted, Speechless,). It wasn’t enough to top Alice In Wonderland which added $17 million to its almost $300 million grand total.

Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson’s new movie Chloe saw small release to the tune of $1 million in just 350 theaters. With no announced plans to expand the release, the project may be hard pressed to cover its $15 million budget.

For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:

1. How to Train Your Dragon $43,300,000  -  Total: $43,300,000 LW: N     WR: 1     THTRS: 4,055

2. Alice in Wonderland (2010) $17,300,000  -  Total: $293,100,000 LW: 1     WR: 4     THTRS: 3,384

3. Hot Tub Time Machine $13,650,000  -  Total: $13,650,000 LW: N     WR: 1     THTRS: 2,754

4. The Bounty Hunter $12,400,000  -  Total: $38,812,000 LW: 3     WR: 2     THTRS: 3,074

5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid $10,000,000  -  Total: $35,776,000 LW: 2     WR: 2     THTRS: 3,083

6. She's Out of My League $3,526,000  -  Total: $25,601,000 LW: 6     WR: 3     THTRS: 2,432

7. Green Zone $3,350,000  -  Total: $30,440,000 LW: 5     WR: 3     THTRS: 2,557

8. Shutter Island $3,175,000  -  Total: $120,600,000 LW: 7     WR: 6     THTRS: 2,123

9. Repo Men $3,048,000  -  Total: $11,342,000 LW: 4     WR: 2     THTRS: 2,519

10. Our Family Wedding $2,200,000  -  Total: $16,785,000 LW: 9     WR: 3     THTRS: 1,132