Since last Sunday, this weekend's box office competition has always been perceived as a race for second place. Dean DeBlois's How To Train Your Dragon did so well in its debut that a repeat at the top of the domestic chart was basically inevitable, so that left the big questions centered around the first runner-up: would it be Danny Boyle's long-awaited horror sequel 28 Years Later or Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, and Adrian Molina's Elio (a.k.a. the latest arrival from Pixar).
Now, the early numbers are in, and the results are modestly surprising. Perhaps because young audiences are still flocking to the dragon-tormented island of Berk, speedy zombies were able to take home the silver medal. Check out the ticket sales in the Top 10 chart below and join me after for analysis.
TITLE | WEEKEND GROSS | DOMESTIC GROSS | LW | THTRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. How To Train Your Dragon | $37,000,000 | $160,485,000 | 1 | 4,373 |
2. 28 Years Later* | $30,000,000 | $30,000,000 | N/A | 3,444 |
3. Elio* | $21,000,000 | $21,000,000 | N/A | 3,750 |
4. Lilo & Stitch | $9,700,000 | $386,749,181 | 2 | 3,375 |
5. Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning | $6,550,000 | $178,379,000 | 4 | 2,603 |
6. Materialists | $5,815,506 | $23,920,137 | 3 | 2,844 |
7. Ballerina | $4,535,000 | $51,118,000 | 5 | 2,537 |
8. Karate Kid: Legends | $2,400,000 | $49,376,000 | 6 | 2,006 |
9. Final Destination: Bloodlines | $1,885,000 | $134,804,000 | 7 | 1,342 |
10. Kuberaa* | $1,750,000 | $1,750,000 | N/A | 500 |
How To Train Your Dragon Holds On To First Place With A Not-So-Great Drop
Last weekend, the live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon got off to a hot start, having a Top 5 for 2025 opening weekend by earning $84.6 million. It was particularly notable because while its animated predecessors were all hits, none of them were particularly fast starters.
Seven days later, the movie has seen a steep dive in its ticket sales, but it remains well on pace to be a bigger hit domestically than any of the other movies in the franchise.
According to The Numbers, How To Train Your Dragon made an estimated $37 million since Friday, which represents a mediocre 56 percent weekend-to-weekend drop from its opening. Thus far, the feature has made $160.5 million, which is certainly a healthy number at this stage. The title has risen to become the seventh biggest earner domestically so far this year, having surpassed the $134.8 million made by Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein's Final Destination: Bloodlines, and it's only about $18 million away from passing Christopher McQuarrie's Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning for sixth place (of course, one should note that both of those films are still playing on the big screen nationwide).
As noted, where the remake really shines is in comparison to the animated How To Train Your Dragon movies. None of the three features prior successfully made $100 million before its tenth day in theaters, and the 2025 release has already done that. It's also just about ready surpass the full domestic gross of 2019's How To Train Your Dragon : The Hidden World ($160.8 million), and it won't take more than a couple weeks for it to fly past 2014's How To Train Your Dragon 2 ($177 million) and 2010's How To Train Your Dragon ($217.9 million).
The bigger challenge for the film will be becoming the highest grossing title in the franchise globally. To date, the 2025 remake has made $358.2 million, but that means it still has a long way to go before it can be dubbed the highest grossing title. It will need to make over $495.1 million to crawl out of last place, and it will need to make over $614.6 million to become the most successful title yet.
Ticket sales are guaranteed to slow down once we hit July, as audiences of all ages around the world are going to be turning their attention to major blockbusters like James Gunn's Superman and Matt Shakman's Fantastic Four: First Steps, so if the film is going to make any big leaps in the box office record books, its going to need to perform them before the month comes to an end.
28 Years Later Nabs Second Place With A Franchise-Best Opening Weekend
There are going to be a lot of eyes on 28 Years Later's box office given that the movie's success directly correlates with the future of the franchise. Filmmakers Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have a vision for a full trilogy follow-up to Boyle's 28 Days Later and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's 28 Weeks Later, but it was revealed earlier this year that the capstone project of this vision has not yet gotten the green light (the next film, Nia DaCosta's 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, has finished production and will be arriving in January).
So did 28 Years Later do well enough to ensure the trilogy gets completed? While there hasn't been news yet of any official decisions, it can be said that the new horror movie is off to a strong start.
28 Years Later made $30 million both domestically and in foreign markets over the last three days, bringing its global total to $60 million worldwide in its opening weekend. That's equal to the reported production budget of the title (not including advertising and publicity), and it's already well on its way to becoming the biggest hit in the franchise. The original, the most successful title in the series, made $82.8 million at the time that it finished its theatrical run, and the first sequel finished its time on the big screen making $64.2 million. Fans have been waiting nearly two decades for this follow-up, and it does seems presently that the juice was worth the squeeze.
The film has gotten a very warm reception critically (CinemaBlend's Mike Reyes gave 28 Years Later a five-star review), and audiences are digging it too – as indicated by the "B" grade delivered in CinemaScore surveys. If I were a betting man, I'd say that the chances of Boyle and Garland getting to make their full trilogy are very strong.
Elio Struggles Against Big Box Office Competition
While this weekend's box office report has been mostly filled with good news for How To Train Your Dragon and 28 Years Later, the loser in the mix is sadly Elio. While not exactly viewed as one of Pixar's best (a very, very high bar), the movie has gotten positive responses (I gave it a three-and-a-half star review for CinemaBlend), but it failed to attract a lot of attention on the big screen this weekend.
Pixar had a nice bounce back streak going in the last couple of years, with Peter Sohn's Elemental being a surprise hit in 2023 and Kelsey Mann's Inside Out 2 being the biggest film of 2024, but Elio made just $21 million in its opening weekend – which actually ranks as the weakest debut ever for a film from the studio. That total is less than the $29.1 million that John Lasseter's Toy Story made in 1995 when it arrived in theaters. If one is hunting for a silver lining, however, Elemental only made $29.6 million in its first three days domestically, and it went on to earn $484.8 million before the end of its global run.
Arriving in the wake of both Dean Fleischer Camp's Lilo & Stitch and How To Train Your Dragon, Elio debuted in a very busy marketplace... and while things aren't exactly slowing down at the box office any time soon, it will be interesting to see if it can linger around in the Top 10 for a couple months.
Looking ahead, next Friday will see a diverse trio of wide releases arriving in cinemas, as Joseph Kosinski's F1 starring Brad Pitt, Gerard Johnstone's M3GAN 2.0, and Eva Victor's Sorry, Baby from A24 will all be in theaters. How will they compete with the films now playing? Be sure to head back here to CinemaBlend next Sunday to find out.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
