Updated Friday AM: Universal is reporting $8.6M for last night’s previews at 3,200 sites for How to Train Your Dragon and when including Wednesday early access screenings that number rises to $11.1M. Excellent start. Similar to Lilo & Stitch, there’s a lot of millennial love for How to Train Your Dragon. The Dean DeBlois directed family epic is booked at 4,356 theaters this weekend including all premium upcharge formats.
A24
A24’s Materialists from Celine Song is off to a great start with $1.5M in Thursday previews at 2,844 locations. That figure isn’t that far from Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers ($1.9M previews, $15M opening). The Dakota Johnson-Pedro Pascal-Chris Evans movie stands at 77% with Rotten Tomatoes audiences (audiences may be divided in Johnson’s choice of dudes in the film) with critics making heart eyes with 87% certified fresh. Outlook for Materialists was $7M-$8M. There’s hope especially after last night that it’s bound to be better. Previews for Materialists are also ahead of Universal’s George Clooney-Julia Roberts romcom Ticket to Paradise which did $1.1M on its way to a $16.5M start. Materialists cost around $20M before P&A.
Universal Pictures
EXCLUSIVE: Universal’s live action take of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon is eyeing around $8M-$9M in Thursday previews. As we always say, these are industry estimates, so they could fluctuate by the time Universal reports in the morning. The studio didn’t return request for comment on what we were spotting.
While early week projections were $65M-$75M, exhibition has been pushing this one in hopes they can wrangle a $100M opening. We could use more of those this summer post Memorial Day weekend.
The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes for this Dean DeBlois directed movie (he did the original animated trilogy) is an epic 99% with critics at 77% certified fresh (that’s a little higher than Lilo & Stitch‘s 72% fresh; that pic’s audience score settling at 93%). Previews began today at 2PM.
How to Train Your Dragon‘s preview money isn’t far from Frozen 2‘s ($8.5M, $130.2M opening), but it’s below Lilo & Stitch‘s $14.5M ($146M opening). It’s also north of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts ($7.6M, $61M opening).
Hands down, How to Trian Your Dragon‘s early money is ahead of the third animated pic, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ($3M previews, $55M opening) and it’s also ahead of How to Train Your Dragon 2‘s $2M in cash (that sequel released by 20th Century Fox when DWA had their distribution deal there) which turned into a $49.4M 3-day opening.
The How to Train Your Dragon trilogy of movies have grossed close to $1.7 billion at the global box office.
We’ll have more updates in the AM.
