Friday Estimates: Dragons Take Flight One Last Time

February 23, 2019

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World is beating expectations with $17.49 million on Friday, putting it on pace for $60 million over the full weekend, including its $2.5 million from paid previews. This is more than enough to be the fastest opening in the franchise and it is easily the best opening of the year so far. It’s nice for a potential major hit to actually top expectations and this is the first time that’s happened all year. Hopefully the film’s reviews and word-of-mouth can continue to lift its box office chances over the full weekend and indeed over the next few weeks.

Alita: Battle Angel, on the other hand, slid faster than expected with $3.14 million on Friday. This is 58% lower than its opening Friday and puts it on pace for between $11 million and $12 million over the weekend. On the positive side, the film earned $20 million during its opening day in China, so the movie will have a great international weekend.

Fighting With My Family earned $2.55 million during its first day of wide release, which is on the low end of expectations. That said, its reviews and its A rating from CinemaScore should help its legs. Additionally, an opening weekend of just over $7 million isn’t a bad start for a film that cost just $11 million to make. If it can find an audience internationally and/or on the home market, then it will be a solid financial success.

Isn’t It Romantic is down 46% from its opening Friday to $2.23 million, putting it on pace for just over $8 million over the weekend. The lack of direct competition is helping the film hold on well, but it only managed a B from CinemaScore, which is low for this type of film. This result is still enough to reach $50 million domestically and that’s enough to be a midlevel hit.

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part was right behind with $2.19 million on Friday, but it will bounce back more over the weekend, because it is a family film, giving it third place with between $9 million and $10 million over the weekend. It is on pace to crack $100 million domestically and break even relatively early in its home market run.

- Friday Box Office Chart

- How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Comparisons
- Fighting With My Family Comparisons

Filed under: Friday Estimates, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Alita: Battle Angel, Isn’t it Romantic, Fighting With My Family, How to Train Your Dragon